An entertaining pastime

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2005)

A very predictable romantic comedy, in the "white anglosaxon protestant male" kind of way. Bill Nighy's blatantly clichéd rocker and Rowan Atkinson's divine touch save a lot. Curtis was obviously playing it safe by his choice of cast, although Hugh Grant as the PM is as believable as - well, as believable as many other things seen during the film.
*** Start of Spoilers *** While most of the story lines are rather cringeworthy, while there are chubby jokes calorie, and while the main cast is predominantly white and male, there is a certain entertaining aspect to the flick. Perhaps this is due to the (preciously few) darker, more bitter and less sweet story lines - although these too become diluted in the end, in a true Christmas fashion. It is a shame that Rowan Atkinson's angelic role was not exploited to greater extent; his final line is probably the best one in the film, in its dry, understated glory. *** End of spoilers ***
I guess the film could be viewed as a satirical take on the traditional romcom formula, so overdone are the gender typecasting and certain story lines. That's my rationale for giving it an eight out of ten.