MOVIE REVIEW

Love Actually  (2003)

Starring: Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Alan Rickman
Director: Richard Curtis

Rating: R

Studio: Universal

Release Date: 11.07.03

Review Posted: 11.07.03

Spoilers: Minor

By Rachel Sexton

Britain’s Romantic Comedy Masters Do It Again

Beginning with Four Weddings and A Funeral and including Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary, the producers at Working Title Films, often teaming with writer Richard Curtis, have established themselves as “the” name in British romantic comedies. Their efforts usually outdo many American entries in the same genre. With their newest film, they tackle a different storytelling technique than they’ve tried before. Love Actually has an innovative narrative structure and an excellent ensemble cast resulting in the best romantic comedy of the year.

Love Actually has a plot construction that is new to the romantic comedy genre: it intertwines lots of small plots into one huge examination of love in all its forms. There’s the old married couple (Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman), the new married couple (Keira Knightley and Chiwetel Ejiofor), the adult couples getting together (Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon; Colin Firth and Lucia Moniz) and the young couple getting together (as stand-ins on what has to be a porn set no less!). Besides all that, there is familial love (Liam Neeson and his stepson) and platonic love (Bill Nighy as an aging rock star and his manager). It’s a lot of ground to cover but none of the stories are short-shifted. In fact, they all provide surprises along the way. And I haven’t even mentioned the young British guy who wants to go to America to meet women, to “a great place called Wisconsin!”

The writing here by Curtis, who also directs, is the highlight. The setting is London during the five weeks before Christmas and the situations in the various plots are by turns hilarious, realistic, and romantic. For instance, Grant plays the new Prime Minister of Britain who falls for staff member McCutcheon and stands up to the American President, played by Billy Bob Thornton (yeah, you read that right). The Firth storyline begins with his girlfriend cheating on him. Similarly, Neeson’s begins with his wife’s funeral. Rickman considers an affair. The most romantic may be Knightley’s plot as she learns her new husband’s best friend is in love with her. The most realistic may be Laura Linney’s plot, where a romance with a coworker is prevented by her commitment to her mentally challenged brother.

The tone of the film is comparable to the other romantic comedies from Working Title, with their freewheeling attitude toward cursing and sexual situations. This may be the only production company to produce a romantic comedy with an R rating. As a director, Curtis lets the writing dominate, never doing anything strikingly stylistic or flashy. One touch that was effective was the way he began the film with footage of regular people happily meeting at the airport and ended it with the various characters we’ve come to know all at the airport.

This cast is filled with much of the British crème de la crème of actors. Thompson long ago proved she is one of the best actresses working and she succeeds here brilliantly. Nighy is hilarious as Billy Mack, the rock star who hates the Christmas album he’s desperately plugging. They’re all good, but Neeson and Firth also stand out. Best of all, though, is Grant (perhaps the Working Title poster boy) who has settled comfortably into leading man status and proves it was always where he should have been. Audiences will love seeing him dance around Number 10 Downing Street! Plus, is it just me or is he getting better looking as he gets older?

Love in all its forms, particularly romantic, is given funny and well-acted treatment in Richard Curtis’ Love Actually. It is one of the best films of the year and “the” best romantic comedy of the year.

Rating: êêêê  (out of 5)

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