So sugary sweet it hurts the teeth and rots the mind

Rating: Null/10 (19 November 2003)

This film is just too darn sugary sweet to leave anything other than a cloying taste. Undeniably Richard Curtis is a very able comic writer and the role of Bill Nighy is standout but overall the film is frankly nothing more than a misfiring set of "best of..working title" films which is directed with the capability that one would expect from a neophyte director. While there are moments to relish (as I say Curtis can write)it is usually down to the watchability of individual actors like Grant while others make you cringe as they fail to ignite (including Keira Knightley)and overall the film does not work - portmanteau stories rarely do - and when filtered through the increasingly boring and tired rose looking spectacle view of middle class Englanders, the result is simply to leave one with a feeling that it would be good not to have to endure another of these Curtis films for a long time.