Lust Actually

Rating: 8/10 (18 June 2009)

There's plenty to love about LOVE ACTUALLY. It's just that I found a couple of the stories downright perverse. It may be convenient for the film never to show us where Keira Knightley's new romance will lead but nothing changes the fact that is not a love story but one of betrayal in which not much good will come out at the end; at least the Alan Rickman / Emma Thompson part is honest about its subject and what the consequences to his actions will eventually be for both of them. Further, what can you say about a story in which a girl is unfaithful to his boyfriend with his own brother ? The funny thing is that the filmmakers want to make us believe these are just different facets of love and for some reason, they time them at Christmas time, as if they would actually have anything to do with the real meaning of Christmas. Still, any movie in which Hugh Grant makes a convincing British Prime Minister can't be all bad. The truer love story in LOVE ACTUALLY ?: Laura Linney giving up on her dream for the sake of her brother, that part might just be enough to justify the title.