Shouldn't be nearly as good as it is

Rating: 7/10 (15 December 2016)

In some respects, "Love Actually" is every bit the gift-wrapped box of sentiment you'd think just looking at the DVD cover. Some of this rings unbelievable, and I tend to be the person who finds that a turnoff. Maybe that's the cynicism talking. But there was a point when all the moving pieces clicked (right around when Colin Firth is bidding adieu to his Portuguese maid, and soon after, the Norah Jones song kicks in) and I really got sucked into the interwoven subplots . And it's not all love and treacle; there a sizable amount of heartache also built in. This is a hell of a cast (with Neeson, Firth, Rickman and Thompson as standouts) and if you're looking for a Christmas movie, short on commercialism and long on warmth, you really could do a lot worse than this.
7/10