Trite, predictable and excessively sappy.

Rating: 5/10 (1 June 2004)

My wife and I rented this a couple of days ago and we both found the movie to be embarrassingly bad, and actually painful to watch in moments. While I think the cast is excellent and the acting is generally good, the inclusion of tired plot devices and ill-conceived plotlines (such as the PM's public tirade against the President because of jealousy) really destroys any potential it may have had. Richard Curtis' sappy Disney-esque moments don't help lend the movie any credibility, either.
I think one of the most telling things I saw on the DVD was the "Deleted Scenes" section where Curtis talks about how difficult it was to cut the movie down from 3+ hours to the 2+ hours it eventually became. Curtis takes almost 5 minutes discussing the import of each scene before the scene is played (some scenes are less than 2 minutes), and he is really excruciating to watch. If you were to believe him, each scene is a gem and should have made it to the final product. I beg to differ. The end result would have been a 3 hour mess as opposed to the 2 hour mess that we have been subjected to.
Best avoided.