The movie makes you feel all cosy and cuddly from the inside. Love Actually is one movie you'll actually love!

Rating: 8/10 (5 January 2014)

With charming cast, beautiful selection of songs, sweet romantic stories of five couples, perfect background scenery, the movie makes you feel like any romantic movie is supposed to make you feel- cosy and cuddly from the inside. It's a story about different kinds of love, and how the lives of ten people move forward because of the spirit of Christmas, for it is the time to be with the people you love.
It is a fun, cute and emotional movie. Love Actually (2003), directed and written by Richard Curtis, has a mix of feelings at places unexpected and all sorts of love explored. Love of companionship of a famous singer for his chubby manager, a craze of American girls for boys with an English accent, unrequited love for one's best friends' wife, agony of innocent love of a six or seven year old for his classmate, love of a caring sister for his unwell brother, the love between two people who do not understand each other's language, the movie is a great watch at Christmas time, or otherwise!
The movie has a lot going on from the moment it begins, but manages to give time to and capture each story without making it seem hurried or cluttered, like New Year's Eve (2011) with a similar plot by Garry Marshall.
Soothing and at the right pace, the background music keeps the romance, tension, urgency, love or fun alive at appropriate moments. Olivia Olson's "All I want For Christmas is You", "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys at the very end, and "Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell are a few of the many perfectly-suited-to-the-scene songs in the movie. Also, when The Silent Night plays in the background, the movie reaches an epiphany, heartening moment. Another movie with an absolutely amazing playlist selection is Morning Glory.
Any and every scene is no less than a picture-postcard picture. Beautiful scenery, Christmas décor and celebrations and the royal houses, etc would remind you of the picturesque scenes of Serendipity.
One of the airport scenes at almost the end reminds me of the ending of Chalte Chalte, though there are more than a dozen movies with a cliché-d airport ending. But not to spoil it for you, this one is much different, and definitely better and comic, at the very least.
The cast selection is profound. Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, the couple who reminds everyone of the most romantic and girly movies of all times, based on Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary raises the expectations from them even higher. Keira Knightley portrays beautifully a character of a girl unaware of her husband's best friend's love for her. Emma Thompson comes across as a very believable character and Rowan Atkinson as Rufus, is remembered despite just his two, but very important to the plot, scenes. Thomas Sangster as a small kid of just 6 or 7 years old plays the character beautifully and stays in our hearts.
This one, in high resolutions, is definitely worth occupying a large chunk of your hard drive.