superficial, actually

Rating: Null/10 (2 December 2003)

**Spoiler Alert**
Another step down the road of disposable bubble gum British film, creating a fairly enjoyable, if lightweight, way to pass the time. Eight stories weave around the barriers to true lurve (language, age, class, gender, etc etc) and place their top-notch cast in a rather disappointing confection.
Best amongst the cast are Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister (his dance through 10 Downing Street to the Pointer Sisters' 'Jump' is a hoot); Colin Firth as a writer who meets a Portuguese girl while holed up to finish his novel in France; Alan Rickman as a bored, unfaithful office manager, with Emma Thompson as his long-suffering wife; Liam Neeson as a widowed father coming to terms with his changed circumstances; and Bill Nighy as a truly awful has-been singer making a comeback with a cheesy cover of Love is All Around. Rowan Atkinson also features in a nice cameo as the shop assistant from hell.
The soundtrack is pretty good, too (Nighy's effort aside) and includes the gorgeous 'Both Sides Now' by Joni Mitchell. There are also many cultural references (Ant and Dec, Michael Parkinson, Blue, Britney Spears) which will no doubt puzzle future movie-goers. Still, fluff like this isn't built to last. It's predicatable, trashy, naff, and - grudgingly - impossible to dislike.