"Love Actually" is a film about love. It is a romantic comedy that expresses that "love is all around."

Rating: 9/10 (18 September 2010)

With the help of many elements, "Love Actually" is successful as a cinematic film. Each storyline has a unified plot. At each point of the film, the characters, although may not be in similar situations, are connected by similar points within the plot structures. All of the story lines move in unison, as they move through the stages of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. The theme is what holds the film together because each story lines plot is focused on the major theme. Richard Curtis also uses irony of situation to support the theme of love. In the scenes between the storyline of John and Judy, the process of getting to know one another happens, not over dinner or coffee, but during work, as they fill-in as doubles in a sex scenes. John and Judy are shy yet they are completely naked in front of 30 people. Their attraction, which is more emotional than physical, toward one another is instant but their relationship takes time to develop. This ironic situation shows that genuine love is all around, even in the most unlikely of places; just as it is ironic that two shy people are in the sex double business. Lighting, set design and cinematic point of view also helped to perpetuate the film's theme. In the many scenes between Jamie and his new housekeeper Aurelia (Lucia Moniz), who also turns into his new love interest, the lighting is bright and fresh. The setting oozes romance with the French country home in the background and the cool colored flowers surrounding the grounds. The lighting and set design help to show Jamie's new, fresh start to life after learning about his wife's infidelity. The surroundings seem to capture Jamie and Aurelia, holding them hostage with the fondness that they have developed for one another. Cinematic point of view also proved successful for theme relevance. The feelings between characters are felt by viewers because of the use of indirect-subjective point of view. In all story lines, the characters are faced with either heart-stopping shock or heart-thumping excitement. The audience is brought into each scene with this point of view, making it clear that what the characters are feeling is real, and that we have felt it too. This film has a lot going on throughout its 129 minutes but the many things occurring on screen are all very important in carrying the theme through to the end of the film. And each storyline (all 10 of them) represent the theme in its entirety, "Love, actually, is all around."