Finally conquered the juggernaut of modern day classics

Rating: 7/10 (19 November 2014)

I can't even fathom the amount of times I've heard people rave about Love Actually. Its one of those movies that people say they watch every year and how much they love it. I even started watching it last Christmas and just didn't make it all the way through for one reason or another. Honestly, you really have to be in the right mood to watch the film because in many ways despite it following a very predictable recipe, it is a very uniquely styled film. Love Actually is very British starring a host of very famous British actors and being set in London with all the quirky dialogue you'd expect from a British film. Its a film with multiple stories all happening at once and intersecting in small ways which some people really like. I actually think the movie maybe overdoes it with the multiple story lines because as good as everyone is and each story has its own merits, some are lost and you're left feeling like some of the characters' issues are unresolved. Still, its a funny, quirky, emotional film with a ton of familiar faces and great characters. Love Actually is unapologetically a seasonal special for adults. Nudity, bad language, sex and mature themes abound in the film which is unusual for a "Christmas" movie but why not? Adults deserve a movie for them exclusively. Still a lot of the mature content is perhaps almost unnecessary.
Talking about a cast like this is really hard because it is the definition of an ensemble cast. Its a whose who of British actors with a few Americans thrown in there too. I will list some of the more significant characters and actors. Hugh Grant (watching this made me realize how much I enjoyed him when he was in his prime as a comedic actor), Emma Thompson (always amazing), Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy (small role but absolutely adore his insane character), Gregor Fisher, Colin Firth, Martin Freeman and Joanna Page (though I could have done without their story entirely. Its unnecessarily adult and changes the tone of the movie.) Andrew Lincoln, Kiera Knightley and Chiwetel Ejiofor star in a sub-plot that I didn't particularly care for either. It could have not been there and made very little difference. Laura Linney, Alan Rickman, Martine McCutcheon, Rodrigo Santoro and Thomas Brodie-Sangster round out the main cast. I think I've really covered the main people that at least have significant screen time. As I pointed out I felt like a few of the stories took up more time than necessary and sort of cut into the stories that you really wanted to see more of like Liam Neeson's storyline with his step-son and Hugh Grant's story. Both of those (for instance) could have made their own film.
Its amazing that this was Richard Curtis' directorial debut and he wrote the film as well. I also have to mention that Curtis (who has only directed two other movies since this one) directed the AMAZING (one of the best films of last year) About Time. He knows a thing or two about evoking emotions and he uses this top notch cast extremely well. I do sort of get why people adore this movie so much. It has a lot of very memorable scenes and while it is based around Christmas, it doesn't shove the idea down your throat that its a "Christmas" movie. Its a subtle holiday film that deals with multiple versions of what "love" is. For the romantic in all of us, you'll definitely enjoy it. It didn't floor me, in fact considering its reputation I thought it could use a little fine tuning here and there. It felt sloppy at times. Still I enjoyed myself, had some fun, and I totally get why people rave about it. Maybe the expectations were set pretty high. Definitely check it out for something a little different this holiday season. This is technically my first Holiday film for 2014 and I love my Christmas movies!! 7.5/10