One of the taglines for Love Actually was "the ultimate romantic comedy." In many ways this is an apt description. Rather than simply following one romance, this movie features a large cast of characters from all over the U.K. finding love around Christmas time. Some of these stories are more comedic, while others are more romantic, while others are a mixture of both. The result is a surprising delight even for those that don't normal like romantic comedies.
One of the main problems I have with many romantic comedies is that I often find the comedy lacking. The comedy in many of these movies is more cute or charming than actually funny. Love Actually is a delightful exception to this. I was honestly surprised at just how funny this film can be. Pretty much anything involving the lonely aging rockstar (Bill Nighy) as well as the two stand-ins for sex scenes in a movie ((Martin Freeman, Joanna Page) is hilarious. Rowan Atkinson's brief scene in the jewelry store and the prime minister (Hugh Grant) performing a Christmas carol are also comedic highlights. As should be true in more romantic comedies, the romance and comedy never get in the way of each other and the film can be funny at times and sweet and charming at others. The two characters who fall in love despite not speaking the same language (Colin Firth, Lúcia Moniz) is an incredible sweet and charming romance that is a pure delight. This movie also functions as almost a 21st century version of all-star films of the 1930's like Grand Hotel (1932). This is not only true because of the all-star cast (Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson and many more) but because of the concept of weaving together various stories based on the same theme. This helps give the movie a certain old-fashioned charm, while clearly remaining a product of the 21st century (the humor here is definitely much more risqué than what you could even get away with in a pre-code film). It is the blending of old-fashioned story telling with modern sensibilities that helps make this movie stand out.
This is not to say Love Actually is a perfect film though. The sheer number of stories as well as a run time of 135 minutes can make this film uneven at time. The truth is some of the stories are better than others. There are some characters and stories that simply get lost in the mix and are too overshadowed by others.
This film opened on the exact same date (November 7, 2003) as another beloved Christmas movie, Elf (2003). Both of course were quite different takes on a Christmas movie. Elf was a fantasy-based story for the whole family, while Love Actually was a holiday romance aimed squarely at adults. Elf was a major hit in the U.S. but underperformed outside of the country. However, Love Actually performed better outside the US.
This film was written and directed by Richard Curtis. It marked his directorial debut. However, he had already made a name for himself in romantic comedies for having written such movies as Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999) and Bridget Jones's Diary (2001). He originally planned this film as two movies. One that would center around the prime minster character and another that would center around the couple with the langue barrier. However, he felt that this was too similar to other romantic comedies including ones he wrote himself. He felt he would have a better movie if he combined the two stories and threw in others. He had about 30 pages of his script written before he decided to set the film around Christmas time.
This film has become a Christmas tradition for many, and it is easy to see why. It is simply very charming and very funny.
Resources Used
Christmas in the Movies by Jeremy Arnold
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