A trusty cast and some good jokes make it an OK holiday time-filler...

Rating: 8/10 (22 November 2003)

Richard Curtis, from my perspective, deserves both panning and praise for his first film as a writer/director, Love Actually- it's loaded to the brim with nearly every kind of relationship/romance/infidelity convention you can think of, wedged into eight different couples intertwined together in merry old England. However, having said that, I can't say I didn't have a bad time during Love Actually, and I didn't feel compelled to walk out or leave to go to the bathroom for a long stretch of time either. What works about the movie are two things- the characters Curtis sets up and unfolds, to one degree or another in this definitely movie-movie universe, are believable, and surprisingly there is some interestingly dramatic elements thrown in here and there (particularly with Laura Linney, Liam Neeson- early on, and Emma Thompson). The other thing is the cast, which includes the known likes of Linney, Neeson, Thompson, Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, and some charming work thrown in by lessor known actors like Kiera Knightly (who got a break during the summer with Curse of the Black Pearl), Martine McCutcheon, Lucia Moniz, Rodrigo Santoro, Thomas Sangster as the boy in love, and nice little cameos for Rowan Atkinson, Billy Bob Thornton, Shannon Elizabeth, etc.
The drawback to some of the performances and stories is that since the story jumps from one place to another, and since we can predict more or less where each character's destiny lies on Christmas Eve, there is maybe a little too much emphasis on the paths instead of a little more depth (outside of the dramatic input of course). Plus, you can tell the film was not the kind of film released first in America and sold later to Europe. Yet, like I said, the flaws may be moot to most movie-goers, because Curtis is just out to get the audience into having a good, escapist experience with these people, and the main and supporting players do what they can. Also, as some other reviewers and commentators have noted, the show stopper is indeed Bill Nighy as Billy Mack, the aging, cynical rock star recording and selling a Christmas single on TV and Radio as the sort of background in the film. Along with being the funniest character of the lot, he ends up garnering some heartedness too by the climax. I wouldn't bother seeing it again for a while, but I was glad I saw it in a packed audience-type of atmosphere. Grade: (strong) B