OK if you don't mind disappointment. Should have been so much better...

Rating: 5/10 (7 January 2006)

Sappy, though at times, brilliant comedy. I wanted to like it more, but the muddled, maudlin overblown resolutions didn't ring true. Wonderful performances by Laura Linney, Emma Thompson and Bill Nighy can't save this manipulative soaper. I wish Curtis had been brave enough to simply let the stories play out--some happy, some sad, some devastating. Instead, it's all tied up with a big, shiny, unrealistic bow...not what I'd expect from him. My favorite subplots were Linney's, Kiera Knightly's and Collin Firths...until Firth's morphed into a Broadway musical act-ender. Ridiculous. Liam Neeson's tale started interestingly enough, but soon suffered the fate of Firth's. If you want a film with interwoven characters behaving as human's truly behave... rent Altman's "Nashville". It's strange, moving, funny, and totally true. Unlike this pre-packaged heart-warmer that should be a bit of a heart=breaker, too.