Love Actually (R)

Multi-character romantic comedies often carry with them mixed results. They are zany, crazy, and veer in and out of stereotypes, big name actors, and impressive soundtracks. They don’t however, often have vision, and, more importantly, heart to match. However, the 2003 production “Love Actually” has a great deal of both, thanks to careful direction, acting, and the movie’s ardent attempt to keep its main focus – love – diffused throughout its staggering 20 lead actors, touching on romantic love, but not limiting itself to this sole example in its exploration of people, the Christmas season, and the emotions it often contains.

Set a month before Christmas in London, “Love Actually” succeeds at the hands of its actors, but more at the hands of Director Richard Curtis (producer, “Notting Hill”), and a script written with sympathy for its main characters instead of cynicism. Its situations are humorous and entertaining – such as when England’s new Prime Minister (“Notting Hill” alum Hugh Grant), falls for one of his new staff on his first day on the job. “Oh no, that is so inconvenient,” he stammers as he shuts the door to his office. Other scenes are equally enjoyable, such as two nude actors who develop feelings for each other on the set, another couple navigating through marriage and middle-age (Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson), and a newly married couple (Kiera Knightley and Chiwetel Ejiofor) and their friend Mark, (Andrew Lincoln), who come to terms with old friendships and married life.

However, the movie also dips into more melancholy topics, such as prospective love that never blossoms, as between Sarah and Karl (Laura Linney, Rodrigo Santoro), or death, loss, and rebirth as between newly-widowed Daniel (Liam Neeson) and son Sam (Thomas Sangster), as father attempts to reconnect with his son after his wife’s death. Alongside this, an aged rock star Billy Mack (Bill Nighy, “Notes on a Scandal“) attempts to resuscitate his dying career by releasing a Christmas version of one of his past hits, vying for a #1 radio spot against a boy-band “Blue” as the days to the holiday tick down one by one.

“Love Actually,” proclaiming itself as “the ultimate romantic comedy,” succeeds as a heart-warming and winning picture, ironically, because (most of the time) it avoids the pratfalls that often sink movies of its type. Take, for instance, the hallmark “declaration of love scene” that often plagues rom coms both in its ubiquity and predictability (see McConaughey’s bike chase scene in “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” or other, countless examples). However, in “Love,” these scenes occur to more than one character, and seem less necessary plot devices and more a fulfillment of personal catharses. Possibly the most touching of these scenes involves Daniel as he convinces his son to confront a girl in school he is in love with, but others are less predictable, such as one scene involving the Prime Minister, as well as another with semi-hopeless Mark, who is in secretly in love with a woman he can never have.

What works about the movie is that it takes these stories and comes at them from a different point of view, highlighting the growth the characters undergo to get to the point of experiencing love, as well as the often-humorous way they get there. Of course, a great deal of additional humor is added to the film through a common ‘problem’ found in British comedies – you simply cannot imagine the movie being anywhere near as humorous were it not for British slang (one scene, where Rickman urges a store clerk (Rowan Atkinson) to hurry up, or another, where Billy Mack calls his latest album “a festering turd of a record”) simply wouldn’t be funny at all cast in American English.

Not a perfect film, “Love Actually” suffers from a few problematic elements. The movie is a bit overlong at 135 minutes (remarkable, however, given the movie’s original 3 1/2 hour run-time stated by Director Richard Curtis in the DVD’s special features section), and seems it takes a long time to reach its conclusion. The movie’s script also suffers a bit from naivete in certain scenes; for instance, the wisdom that Daniel’s son Sam seems to show in matters of the heart far outweighs the grasp held by many thirty-year-olds. Additionally, much of the movie’s closing scene features a predictably happy ending for most couples, while some are left up in the air, which might irritate some viewers hoping for more closure.

However, these issues are easily remedied by the acting, which is top-notch. Hugh Grant gives a thoroughly competent and pleasing performance as the Prime Minister, Rickman and Thompson present a believable mid-life couple, and others, such as Knightley, Linney, Nighy, and Lincoln add stability and heart to the film in unlikely places. Special notice should be given to Neeson, whose portrayal of a grieving widow is superbly acted, especially in lieu of  the death of his own wife, Natasha Richardson, who would die six years later in a tragic skiing accident. Additionally, characters played by Colin Firth and Lucia Moniz, who develop an attraction across the language divide (Firth’s Jamie speaks English; Moniz’ Aurelia speaks Portuguese) are well acted and show how much same-language couples often take for granted as they attempt to get to know each other.

“Love Actually” is, actually, a rather enjoyable film that will please lovers of romantic comedies and Christmas seasoners in equal measure. The various plot-lines are all fairly interesting, and despite some critics’ derision of the film or its characters,  all the stories add up to the central theme of love the movie is structured around. Some endings will be expected, but some (as one involving Billy Mack) will not be, and may surprise viewers. The movie touches on not just romantic love, but family love, platonic love, and all other kinds, lending the film credibility, and making it a more rounded and pleasing effort in the process.

– by Mark Ziobro