The Golden Turd

Rating: 4/10 (24 October 2003)

"Love Actually" was exactly the kind of product described by the washed up rock star character we first meet as he is butchering his classic oldie by turning it into a money-making holiday song: a golden turd. While the audience I was with got a lot of chuckles out of this story, the whole thing felt really cobbled together and insubstantial. So many simultaneous stories made each one of the fabulous actors felt wasted - kind of heartbreaking, really, since there were many truly magnificent folks getting screen time, but not one got more than 15 minutes (I think). It wasn't awful, but it just felt like "product," with focus group approved emotion-inducers: the "sexy" nude scenes, the "sad" funeral scene, and the "heart-warming" kiddie scenes. Poor Richard Curtis - has he truly lost his ability to create something that feels the least bit fresh? Save it for a rental.