Love Actually: A Review

When My Big Fat Greek Wedding came out, it was swamped with good press. Friends, family, strangers on the street all told me that it was a wonderful movie--the best romantic comedy in years. When I saw it, I was tremendously disappointed.

Honestly, with the exception of a few funny moments, I thought the movie was boring. Love Actually is the movie that I might have expected Greek Wedding to be.

Obviously, with a cast including Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, and Colin Firth, the acting is top notch. The script feels a little messy at times, but also feels more fresh and bright than it has any right to be. That is, you probably won't be too surprised by what happens, but you'll still enjoy watching the show.

Genuinely funny, honestly touching, and, at times, engrossing. The characters are lively, from the washed up rock star (Bill Nighy) to the long suffering wife (Emma Thompson) and everyone in between. And that covers quite a bit of ground. There are 8 couples, families, Christmas lobsters, an American president (Billy Bob Thornton), and a couple appearances of a nicely subdued Bean.

Before you rush out to see it, though, understand where this recommendation is coming from: I'm a big, sappy romantic. I love to see films where people commit themselves to insane, passionate love; I love to see them do stupid things and find a way to make it work. Yep, I'm a fan of chick flicks.

Not all of them, mind you. Greek Wedding bored me, as I noted. Titanic and Pearl Harbor were both simply trash. But give me a love story that I can really believe in, and I'm a happy boy. One of the best love stories I've ever seen was in the highly underrated For Love of the Game.

Well, Love Actually, is more on the side of believability. The choices that people make have consequences--and those result in some of the moments that might yank some tears from the more sensitive members of the audience. And it isn't just a movie about romantic love--it touches on familial love and the place that friends hole in our lives as well.

Move past the boorish American president and the terribly obvious, but not overwhelming, politics, and this is a wonderful ride. There's a touch of 'tuitous nudity that the guys will like (which I, of course, didn't object to), pretty boys for the women to enjoy, and a story that left me feeling a whole lot warmer when I walked out of the theater.

For anyone who is a big, romantic sap like me, I recommend this movie without reservation. That might sound like a variation on the "you'll like that if you like things like that" theme, but whether you'll like this movie really does depend on how you might receive a movie that moves quickly through eight stories (not quite a frenetic pace, but sometimes a little hurried), makes obvious plays at your emotions, has Hugh Grant, and does involve a heavy does of Hollywood romance.

Not a classic, but a laugh-out-loud, touching, if a bit obvious, movie.

It worked for me.