Movie Review - Love Actually (2003)

Christmas Movie a Day #7
Love Actually
Starring Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kiera Knightley, and Bill Nighy
Directed by Richard Curtis

I understand that this isn't a perfect movie, but I really can't help but love it. There's just something so charming about this flick that wins me over every single time that I watch it.

Richard Curtis (writer-director of the recent Pirate Radio) crafts a movie full of interweaving tales of romance -- some of which end positively and others of which of conclude less than perfect. With the exception of the tale of the young Englishman who travels to the U.S. to work his British charms on unsuspecting American ladies and the story of the naked body double couple, there's not a bad story in the bunch. Particularly winning are Liam Neeson as a grieving widow dealing with his young stepson's first love and Emma Thompson as a wife who suspects her husband (Alan Rickman) of cheating on her with a hot office colleague. Hugh Grant as the new prime minister is also at his best here. Throw in Colin Firth, Laura Linney, and a hilarious Bill Nighy as an aging rock star and you've got one heckuva cast.

What's particularly enjoyable is that Richard Curtis is able to make many of these stories connect without ever seeming the least bit unbelievable. None of the relationships/interconnections ever seem forced even it's just as simple as a character sitting in the congregation at another character's wedding. That's a difficult task and Curtis was definitely up to it.

Once again, I realize this film isn't perfect, but it's one of my favorites, for sure. A new holiday tradition, perhaps, even if it's not the most "Christmas-y" movie around.

The RyMickey Rating: A-
The Christmas Spirit Scale: 6/10
(The Christmas Spirit Scale is a totally pointless rating that is simply my feeling about how "Christmas-y" the movie felt to me)