If you look closely, you’ll find that love actually is all around. For this holiday season, I am going to write a review of what I consider to be the greatest Christmas movie ever made, Love Actually. Released on November 14, 2003, it has an all-star cast too grand to list here and is rated R. It takes place around the Christmas season in London, England and is a romantic comedy.
It’s December in Britain and 9 different groups of people are expressing different forms of love throughout the month. A rockstar releases a Christmas album and just might find the love he’s been missing. A man must find a way to move on from loving his best friend’s wife. A writer visits France and falls in love with a Portuguese housekeeper despite the two speaking different languages. A loving marriage may be destroyed by a possible affair. The newly elected Prime Minister falls for a member of his staff. A recently widowed man tries to help his young stepson win the heart of the girl he loves. Two co-workers attempt to hook up with each other. A failed romancer travels to America to find love. Two people in unique circumstances start to develop feelings. How will each of these stories end?
The words “love actually is all around” fit this movie perfectly. The theme of love is put on full display, with inter-twining stories giving the film its heartfelt moments. The couples and how they overcome their struggles for each other is a powerful reminder of the goodwill in humanity. But it's not just displayed through romance. The love between the father and son in the one story provides a lot of feels. Showing how distinct the love is in all the stories reminds us that those five keywords are accurate. Seeing as how most of the stories end happily, it’s a very feel-good movie. Not to mention the soundtrack is very happy and sweet too.
In addition to presenting some effective romance, the comedy is top-rate as well. So many hysterical moments happen in this 2-hour and 16-minute timespan. One reason for this is how so many characters say incredibly rude things in such a casual way. There’s also the amount of excessive swearing going on. What helps is that the movie has tons of very talented comedic British actors (which I’ll talk more about next paragraph). People like Bill Nighy, Hugh Grant, and even Rowan Atkinson deliver comedy gold. There’s also one storyline that is simply meant to be funny and it delivers.
The best thing about this movie has to be the amazing cast. Just some of these brilliant casting choices include Bill Nighy, Andrew Lincoln, Keira Knightley, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Laura Linney, and Martin Freeman. Everyone plays their roles perfectly, with not one person failing in their performance. Rowan Atkinson, as I brought him up earlier, also works for two comedic moments, even if he’s ultimately a cameo character. He still succeeds in being one of the most memorable parts of the movie. I can’t even pick a favorite character because I love everyone.
My complaints with this movie come down to people constantly using the fact that it’s Christmas as an excuse for why they’re doing what they’re doing and some incredibly unrealistic actions. Despite this, I find this movie to be a straight-up classic I have to watch every December. It just gets you into the Christmas season and it should be seen by more people. Watch it for some good old-fashioned holiday feels.
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