A Tremendously Pleasant And Enjoyable Movie About Love

Rating: 8/10 (30 December 2011)

There really aren't a lot of movies about love. There are a lot of romances, but the focus is always on the star-crossed lovers. There are star-crossed lovers in this, but the focus here is less on the characters than it is simply on the power of love as it sometimes appears in unexpected places, and as it sometimes rekindles itself after lying dormant. Sometimes we're recovering from love, sometimes love is from afar and unrequited; sometimes it's just a true and sincere friendship. But it's there. As Hugh Grant says in the opening narration: "love, actually, is all around us."
I have to confess that I'm generally not a fan of these movies that feature separate story lines that eventually intertwine. I like my movies to have a little more focus, and these movies often seem blurry instead, as you wait (often impatiently) for what you know is the inevitable moment when the various stories will intersect, and everything will be revealed. This movie, however, I enjoyed. There were, in fact, several story lines: an old rocker trying to make a comeback; a recent widower dealing with grief and his young stepson who's head over heels for a classmate; the newly elected and single British Prime Minister who's smitten with a member of the household staff; two porn actors who fall for each other on the set; a recent divorcée who falls for his maid with whom he can't even communicate with because she speaks Portuguese; a newly married couple - and the man who secretly adores the new bride; an older man being pursued by a co-worker who wonders whether to pursue her or stick with his marriage. There might have been others. Usually I would say that's way too much to include, but somehow it all worked here; the stories blended together well and complemented each other. It's a very diverse group of people, all connected by being essentially from the same town. No one relationship really dominated in the story, although the three that really stood out for me were Hugh Grant's role as the Prime Minister (the slightly confused by love character being perfect for him), Liam Neeson as the recent widower dealing with grief and helping his stepson with love and Bill Nighy as rocker Billy Mack, who adds the most comedy to the movie as he releases a Christmas album that he knows is terrible - which he tells everyone, much to the chagrin of his manager. Other lovers in this included Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Laura Linney and Alan Rickman. There are also small (and non- romantic) parts for Billy Bob Thornton and Rowan Atkinson.
The characters are basically all likable and pleasant, and you really find yourself hoping that love works out for all of them. It's not really a tug at your heartstrings type of movie, and while it's about love it's not what I would call a "chick flick" - there are too many situations faced by the respective male characters that I could relate to for it to be that. I suppose it's a bit too sappy at times, but that's in keeping with the subject matter. It's a pleasant movie - and at times it's very funny as we watch the various relationships work themselves out. (8/10)