Light but very VERY sweet

Rating: 10/10 (30 November 2003)

A bunch of love stories that occur in December in London and all fall together on Christmas Eve. Bill Nighy plays a has-been rock star who rerecords one of his old hits as a Christmas songs. He's drugged out, beaten down and very very funny--and has no one to love. Hugh Grant plays the prime minister who falls for his assistant (the wonderful Martine McCutcheon). Colin Firth plays a man who just left his cheating wife and falls for a lovely Italian girl (Lucia Moniz) who really doesn't speak English. Alan Rickman plays an executive married to loving wife Emma Thompson and pursued by his sexy secretary Heike Makatsch. Kris Marshall plays a geeky English guy who flies all the way to America believing his accent will make him a stud. Laura Linney plays a secretary deeply (and understandingly) in love with hunky Rodrigo Santoro--but she has somebody else. Andrew Lincoln is secretly in love with his best friend's wife. Liam Neeson coaches his 11 year old stepson on how to get a girl. AND a guy falls for a woman while doing stand ins with her on a porno set.
As you can see, there's plenty of material--too much. The film is overlong--but all the actors are just great (Thomson, Rickman, Grant, Linney and Firth are just unbelievable) and the film is bright, colorful and--just like real life--doesn't have all happy endings.
Still, I loved every minute of this and recommend it highly.
One warning--this is VERY R rated. The language is rough and there's plenty of casual nudity in the porn sketch.