Like Actually

Rating: 6/10 (30 June 2014)

It's a darned shame that Love Actually is only just okay, I like it; but the film's title is misleading for the most part. It definitely has likability, which when it comes to Romantic Comedies is somewhat of a miracle. Yet I have no capacity to love it, which the film wants me to, so frequently throughout the runtime that it can be a little unnerving. At certain moments it feels like the director is nudging the audience to chuckle, which when you are aiming for laughs in a film that has a high concept as much as this, is a little odd. The laughs for scenes with particular couples feel forced and unnatural; when I did laugh felt sorry for the film trying to hint that the certain scene or gag is in fact amusing.
The film involves about eight couples in the weeks leading up to Christmas at London. It follows their antics and what they do in the countdown to Christmas, whether it is trying to get the Prime Minister's attention or one of the school teachers to like you. The characters themselves range from porn doubles to one guy who has fallen very deeply for his best friend's fiancée; so I cannot fault the film for its ambition or scale which is no mean feat upon Richard Curtis's part in particular, him being the director and the writer I am sure that most of the film was under careful consideration. Other parts I feel are not; it is really annoying that the flaws sometimes overlook the positive elements of the film.
It is however, an exceedingly charming film that has infrequent laughs which can sometimes make the whole affair seem a bit dull, especially when it comes to the segments that have little humour, charm or even an actual point for that matter. In particular a scene with one of the characters trying to get girls to like him and repeatedly have sex. Fortunately the best moment comes from Bill Nighy as a singer who does not realise how bad his record is. Nighy can always make a film that is middle of the road, much better than it has any right to be and this is the case with Love Actually.
Thankfully, the ending is fulfilling, much more so than some of the other elements that just feel there to add to the already unwieldy length. I cannot help but feel disappointed what with the amount of potential it had and most of which is wasted or lost amid all the different sub plots. It can be hard to get your head around a film like this, and it is certainly much more complex than it needed to be.
A more appropriate title would be Like Actually. There are key elements that light up the whole affair and others that just crave the attention they feel, but in no way do they actually deserve. With many gaping flaws through the film; some that run fairly deeply, I cannot see why people adore Love Actually as much as they do.