Infatuation, Actually

Rating: 6/10 (8 December 2019)

Well, I finally saw Love, Actually. I hadn't planned to. I've read a number of articles on why it's awful - most notably Lindy West's hilariously savage takedown - so I figured I could skip it. But I was with my girlfriend's family and it was on so there you are.
It's hard to be objective after so much anti-anticipation, but I'm inclined to say that, if you accept that this is manipulative and nonsensical, it's a reasonably effective bit of Hollywood Christmas entertainment. Just ignore that romance is reserved for young women without a lot to say and that this movie is not about love at all but instead is about becoming infatuated with people you don't know and may have nothing in common with and it's all fine.
The structure is unusual, in that's it's a series of little intertwined vignettes about a group of interconnected people. A little boy is in love with a girl he hasn't spoken to, a guy falls in love with a woman who doesn't speak English, a Prime Minister has the hots for an attractive woman everyone in the movie inexplicably describes as fat (as though the part was written for a heavier woman and then some producer shouted "WE CAN'T HAVE A FAT CHICK IN THIS MOVIE!").
Many of the characters are likable in general, and some of the scenes, taken by themselves, are kind of brilliant. Yes, that guy putting his emotional baggage on a newlywed is screwed up, but IT'S DONE IN SIGNS! No, it makes no sense those two people who couldn't converse and barely interacted fell in love, but the culminating scene is funny and rather touching. There is no movie that requires stand ins for a series of nothing but sex scenes, but those scenes are funny and the low-key relationship that develops is the most likable and believable thing in the movie.
What Love, Actually is, above all else, is *clever.* The exhausting, sometimes annoying structure is clever. There are ingenious scenes and situations and some sharp dialogue. But the cleverness seems to exist for its own sake rather than in the service of saying something about love or lust or the human condition, so the whole thing is kind of empty.
Would I have rated this movie higher if I had no information going in? Probably. I probably would have given it a 7 and said it was dumb but entertaining even though I found jumping from story to story a little annoying. I can't imagine rating it higher than 7, though, and definitely don't see this as a particularly good example of the romantic comedy.
It's not really as bad as I thought it might be. If you're curious to see what all the fuss is about, go ahead and take a look.