Love Actually

The Christmas season might ’ve just terminate , but the reaching of a beloved holiday motion picture on Netflix means we have the chance to stretch the pleasure . Released just over 21 year ago in 2003 , Richard Curtis’Love Actuallyhas stood the test of prison term to become one of the go - to Christmas movies of today . This is an specially impressive feat when consider how controversial some elements have become , thus threatening to dip the glow of this heartwarming feature .

Cast

The 2003 romantic drollery Love in reality stick to various couple as they explore their relationships throughout the Christmas season . With a star - constellate cast composed of Bill Nighy , Colin Firth , Alan Rickman , Emma Thompson , Keira Knightley , Hugh Grant , Laura Linney , Liam Neeson , Rowan Atkinson , Chiwetel Ejiofor , Martin Freeman , and Martine McCutcheon , Love really has since become a Christmas raw material for read-only storage - com devotee .

Every class , I palpate more and more like I need to defend my heart for this movie . And yet , every twelvemonth , I still turn to it as presently as Thanksgiving come to a finish . Love Actuallyis mostly aided by its witching hurl of A - tilt British stars and the storylines that are executed well , thoughthe flaws are still glaringly present and in spades deserve to be examined nearly . Overall , this means Curtis ' tale of multiple interconnected love stories set around Christmas is a fascinating read-only storage - com to review .

Love Actually Has A Lot On Its Mind

And It’s Not All Successful

If I were to go through every plot line inLove Actually , I ’d spend a significant amount of time evaluating this moving picture . The most democratic arc have become iconic , for dependable or unfit : the Prime Minister ( Hugh Grant ) fall for a sweetly earnest penis of his household staff ( Martine McCutcheon ) ; a husband ( Alan Rickman ) roll towards infidelity and away from his devoted wife ( Emma Thompson , contribute one of the best public presentation in the movie ) ; and a pre - walk-to DeadAndrew Lincoln announce his love to a immature Keira Knightley via pool cue cards outside her house .

The flick ’s winning aspects residual on its dynamical voice dramatis personae , which adds grain and vibrancy to this seaboard townsfolk and its history ’s tolerate sweetness .

Curtis penned the screenplay forLove Actually , and from the myriad characters and situations he ’s devised , it ’s clean he was bursting with breathing in . However , some storey are more successful than others , and the least good ones perhaps should ’ve been left on the drawing gameboard . The two most glaring representative prove one of the film ’s weaknesses , which is an overall unevenness in tone . On one end of the spectrum , pitiful courier / server Colin ( Kris Marshall ) , timeworn of being rejected by British women , travels abroad and miraculously wins the , erm , affections of four American women right off the bat .

Love Actually Movie Poster

As with many motion picture from the early 2000s , Love Actuallyhasn’t age altogether well , and one can see miss opportunity when it add up to certain romances and dynamics .

It ’s meant to be silly and over - the - top , butwhen juxtapose withLove Actually ’s more serious storyline , it fall unconditional , a game point more sticky than seraphic . Laura Linney ’s arc , which insure her pluck between ultimately connecting with her longtime body of work crush ( Rodrigo Santoro ) and caring for her ailing brother ( Michael Fitzgerald ) , is almost upsetting to watch when compare to the film ’s general cheer . It offers little resolution for Linney ’s character — she ’s the only one of the principal plaster bandage to not appear at the end — and comes as a sobering slap in the side after something like Colin ’s prank .

Love Actuallyis so packed with characters and conflicting emotions that the opening sequence introducing everyone has some persistence issues if you make up close enough aid . Then there are the plot pointedness that have somehow become hot - button issues , such as Lincoln ’s aforementioned confession and the various jokes made about people ’s weight unit , particularly when it comes to McCutcheon ’s Natalie . As with many flick from the former 2000s , Love Actuallyhasn’t senesce entirely well , and one can see missed opportunities when it comes to sealed romances and dynamics . However , this does n’t deepen the fact that , when it work , itreallyworks .

David and Natalie sitting in the backseat of a car and looking at each other over a small child in an octopus costume in Love Actually

Through It All, Love Actually Still Tugs At The Heartstrings

It Helps That It Has A Perfect Cast

There ’s little question that Curtis knows how to stage grand amatory gestures , best picture in the dual sexual climax featuring a prod - of - the - bit matrimony proposal and an aerodrome dash . With Craig Armstrong ’s sweeping grade propelling Colin Firth ’s and Thomas Brodie - Sangster ’s lineament forward at the same time , it ’s nearly impossible not to get catch up in the magic . And that ’s whyLove Actuallyhas stay on such an enduring classic : it knows when to fiddle to its speciality .

tell strength include theshockingly stackedLove Actuallycast , featuring establish heavyweights like Grant , Bill Nighy , Liam Neeson , and Rickman alongside then - newcomers such as Chiwetel Ejiofor , Martin Freeman , and Knightley . Not everyone get the fortune to push their talents to their full electric potential , but there are more than a few standouts . Thompson ’s Joni Mitchell - scored breakdown upon take of her hubby ’s infidelity is heart - wrenching and defines the penetrative side of the holiday season . Firth and Lúcia Moniz , in a storyline about two devotee who speak unlike languages , betray their unconventional Latinian language with charmingly awkward and genuine interpersonal chemistry .

The holiday time of year would n’t feel right without Nighy ’s aging rockstar singing about Christmas being all around , so expect this movie to stick around for years to amount .

Headshot Of Colin Firth In The Los Angeles Premiere Of <code>Empire Of Light</code>

The 2003 romantic comedy Love Actually follows various couples as they explore their relationships throughout the Christmas season. With a star-studded cast composed of Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson, Rowan Atkinson, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Martin Freeman, and Martine McCutcheon, Love Actually has since become a Christmas staple for rom-com lovers.

The inviolable storyline , though , has always been that of Sam ( Brodie - Sangster ) and Daniel ( Neeson ) , a son and his stride - founding father navigating a withering red by confronting the tingle and challenge of young making love . Daniel might be out of his depth in care for Sam , but their bond is one of the movie ’s sweetest kinetics , withNeeson peg the role of an uncertain yet eager fathertrying to assist his fry act on his feeling for his gifted classmate .

Love Actuallydoes , at time , take a misguided approach to its various romantic storylines , but it has a timeless charm that has n’t yet dimmed . There ’s something for everyone here ; if the erotic love tale are too much , there are friendships and family moral force here to supply some redundant warmth . The holiday time of year would n’t palpate correct without Nighy ’s aging rockstar vocalizing about Christmas being all around , so require this movie to stick around for years to add up .

bed Actuallyis now pour on Netflix . It is 135 moment foresighted and rat R for sexuality , nudeness , and language .

Headshot Of Emma Thompson In The EE BAFTA Film Awards 2023

Headshot Of Liam Neeson In The UK premiere of Marlowe

Headshot Of Keira Knightley

Santa hangs upside down in That Christmas movie

Movies

Love Actually