Stand out moments make this worth revisiting

Rating: 6/10 (29 December 2010)

I like aspects of this film very much. Every Christmas, I watch this because my sister loves it and she wants me to watch it with her. Sometimes I think "oh no, not again" but then I remember the brilliant moments in the various sub-plots that make this a memorable film worth seeing again. For my taste, there is too much unnecessary bad language, and sexual references directed at children, which seems inappropriate to me even if it's a mature treatment of the subject. But I can usually forgive these lapses. It's well-acted and the performances that stand out for me are Emma Thompson, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. All are doing what they do best, playing English people struggling with their emotions.
It is a very British film and the reason why it may not have done so well in the US may not just be down to the PM's speech (referred to in earlier comments). There are a lot of subtle and not-so subtle jokes, and overall, it's a feel-good movie with some realism thrown in.
I have read the other reviews on this site and it's interesting to see how polarised the opinions are. I'm tending to agree more with the negative comments and I think the problem with the film is that it's very unrealistic, and simplistic, and there are too many stories covered in a superficial way. Romantics might love it, but anyone who has a strong cringe reflex will probably dislike it. My previous comments still stand, but I'm not a big fan of it. I also think it does a dis-service to the image of Britain and the jokes are on the whole not very funny, unfortunately.