Happy 10th, Love Actually!
Thursday, November 7, 2013 at 10:30AM Dancin' Dan here to wish a happy birthday to the romantic comedy to end all romantic comedies. Love Actually surely caused fans and haters of the genre alike to spontaneously combust upon seeing it – so packed is the film with cliché after cliché after cliché (seriously, the only cliché that isn’t here is the one where an unattractive girl removes her glasses and suddenly becomes hot). Richard Curtis’s film tells the stories of no less than twenty-two Londoners (and one Portugese and four American girls), pretty much making this the first rom-com epic.
It’s true, we have Love Actually to blame for the insipid Valentine’s Day and the even worse New Year’s Eve, but those two films don’t have nearly the lightness of touch, the humanity, the… well… British-ness of the 2003 crowd-pleaser.
Gary Marshall’s films take the template Love Actually set and run it through the Hollywood machine, going for maximum slickness and commercial appeal. Of course, neither of those films had the good fortune to have actors as wonderfully mature as Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, and Laura Linney, either.
For me, it’s really the cast that puts Love Actually over. Curtis’s script is gangly and awkward and rarely subtle, but the actors (also including Hugh Grant, a fresh-faced Keira Knightly, The Walking Dead’s Andrew Lincoln, and sure-fire Best Actor nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor, as well as a delightfully trashy January Jones) somehow manage to keep the whole thing on an even keel. In their hands, the movie never feels like much too much, which it really should, what with all the forced interconnectedness between the characters and storylines. You could call this the Crash of romantic comedies and I wouldn’t argue with you.
But, then again…
Of the sprawling cast, Emma Thompson’s performance received the lion’s share of accolades, and this scene is just magic. It’s a superbly crafted moment on every level. But for me, the storyline that moved me most was Laura Linney’s. The scene where she finally, finally gets to be with the man she’s had a crush on (the eminently crushable Rodrigo Santoro), only to have her handicapped brother call just when they’re getting to the good bit, is shattering. To watch her dreams crumble in the face of the duty of familial bonds is poignant in a way not much else in the movie is.
Everyone has their own favorite in Love Actually, be it a scene, character, performance, or entire storyline, partly by design. There’s something for everyone here, one part of why it was a huge hit. But I think the other big reason for the film’s success is that there’s a bittersweet flavor underneath the Christmas-flavored cheese – not every storyline ends happily, not exactly, which somehow makes this very contrived film feel somehow more real than most romantic comedies.
What’s your favorite in Love Actually? Let us know in the comments!
Reader Comments (37)
Never saw it. This movie is as foreign to me as Transformers. The live-action Michael Bay abomination not the beloved 80's cartoon.
Wow - rodrigo was one hot specimen in this flick...
If I had Santoro laying on my bed I would absolutely ignore my brother ;) I've just noticed that Linney seems to have a "thing" with brother and sisters relationships (Ruffalo, Hoffman, Hickey). She's also my favorite in this movie.
I clearly remember having a ball with my best friend while watching it at the movie theatre. For some reason, I've never seen it again, maybe because I remember so much of it.
When he holds up the signs telling Keira Knightley that "To Me You are Perfect" while her husband is in the next room.
Also, hugh grant played emma thompson's older brother. Really ? Emma looks
10 years his senior ...
I have a soft spot for this movie. It's sweet, not too slick, and everything pretty much works. Like you mentioned, the Laura Linney stuff is great, especially the jumping up and down while Rodrigo waits on the other side of the door.
I remember particularly liking Andrew Lincoln and Keira Knightley and the cue cards.
Adam - that scene is so emblematic of how I feel about this movie that I almost wrote about just that one scene. I mean, it's SO cheesy and stupid AND kinda creepy AND weirdly romantic... and yet, you just know that in a Hollywood version of that story the two of them end up together, which would make it MUCH worse. I admire the restraint of that storyline, which sounds weird given that it's the biggest romantic gesture in the film, but there you have it!
I also still don't know (after 10 years and multiple subsequent viewings) if I dislike the film for being a Frankenstein's monster of leftover parts of potential films - none of which are strong enough to make an entire film by themselves - or admire it for admitting that none of its pieces could stand on their own and managing to string them together into a mostly entertaining whole.
I love this movie. The scene where Emma Thompson cries to Joni Mitchell. Perfection.
Two parts of the movie will always stand out for me.
The Rickman- Thompson part just breaks your heart: definitely one of the finest performances of Thompsons career.
But I'm partial to the Liam Neeson segment. Sure, it's perhaps the most grotesque Hollywood make-believe in the entire movie but the chemistry between Neeson and Thomas Sangster is so great you'd think they really were father and son. Also: ending the segment (and the movie) on God Only Knows scores BIG points with me.
On a side-note: I have actually used the Andrew Lincoln cue cards thingee to try and win over a girl. Didn't work though...
One of my favourite romantic comedies. I've loved it since I saw it in the theatre when it came out.
Dieter: that is SO romantic!!! At least you tried!!!
It's over-plotted and has the underlying 9/11 issue with the kid running through the airport, but it's wonderfully performed and scored and is for people in love with love and the Magic of the Holiday season. (The soundtrack is awesome!) As the cue card says, "To Me, You Are Perfect"
The Emma Thompson scene is definitely my favorite, but I'm also partial to the scene of Colin Firth's character professing his love for Aurelia, the Portuguese girl, with half the town looking on. I would totally watch a movie of their time at the lake house.
Also, the main theme, "PM's Love Theme" by Craig Armstrong is one of my favorite pieces of score of all time. I remember having to search high and wide for it at the time, as the film came out in the downloading lull between the end of Napster and the beginning of iTunes.
Love the movie but I'll start with the subplot I didn't like. The doofus that went to America and meet the girls. It was dumb and lazy.
On the dramatic side I loved the Emma Thompson/Alan Rickman story. For me the scene after the concert where she questioned him in a way that showed that she knew what was going on was profoundly moving and sad, beautifully played by both.
On the lighter side: loved Hugh Grant's dance, Bill Nighy's droll performance, and Martin Freeman's vignette about the two doubles on the porn shot was goofy but sweetly played.
Except for that first plot though I really enjoy the whole film.
So many great moments in this film. Saw it again last weekend (now streaming on Netflix) with my teenage daughter (first time viewing), who LOVED it. My favorites: scene between Bill Nighy and his manager after the Elton John party; Emma Thompson in her bedroom after she opens the box; Colin Firth, on his way to find the lovely Portuguese girl at work, with her family and neighbors in tow; Laura Linney with her brother opening presents (heartbreaking, knowing what she gave up). Teary again at Liam Neeson's scene in his home office as he's thinking about his dead wife, since this really happens to him 6 years later with the loss of Natasha Richardson.
What a delightful movie, unapologetically sentimental. The "real" people montages at Heathrow are extra delicious.
Not a great movie, but fantastic in some moments. To reiterate what everyone else has said, love the Laura Linney and Emma Thompson segments. Beautiful and heartbreaking. Also loved Bill Nighy and Hugh Grant's dance.
I remember the trailer at the time and groaning out loud. But all these comments make me want to watch this.
This movie is just awful. I hated it at the time, and I just recently saw it and was still embarrassed for everyone involved.
And yet, I guess I'm glad it is a success and that people like it.
On a related note, a good friend of mine was the victim of a cue card encounter just like in this movie. He was not impressed but at least didn't call the cops on the crazy friend/stalker.
I wish some stuff had been cut out or in another movie. Grant sells his role but there were some weird political implications that seems pretty specific to the Blair period and unfortunately the Trans-Atlantic relations to that (Hello, Billy Bob as the Texan American president) are also tied to the worst story of the Brit who wants a Girls Gone Wild experience in America.
Love the Emma Thompson-Alan Rickman story. I will say I was nearly expecting Thompson to have a fling with Neeson's character because it seemed early on the movie was laying a groundwork there.
The "God Only Knows" montage at Heathrow is aces.
The Lincoln-Knightley stuff could've gone so wrong (And in hindsight I wish there was more to Ejiofor's character than unawareness of the situation. Like how incredible would it have been if he was the one who found out and not her?) but it is a pretty lovely moment although I think today there would have been more stuff on the implications of those dynamics.
I feel like I remember very specific shots from the film. Emma Thompson standing next to the bed. Laura Linney jumping up and down once she's brought the guy home. Both perfect moments, and it's funny that those are the two I always think of since they represent opposite ends of emotions in the film.
My wife and I watch this at least twice a Christmas season. Saw it three times in theaters. Have seen it close to 30 times at least. I do not feel guilty.
Evan -- I think "Portuguese Love Theme" is the central theme you're referring to, not "PM" which is the song that plays when Colin Firth proposes to Lucia Moniz.
I have a HUGE blind spot for this movie. Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Andrew Lincoln, Keira Knightley and Laura Linney are just perfect.
And Lucia Moniz is pretty charming for someone that almost doesn't talk the entire movie :) (although she belongs to the most underdeveloped plot of the movie - I still can't imagine why or how those two got together)
Jay, maybe I misled by saying "main theme" and referring to the scene in Portugal, but the triumphant "PM's Love Theme" from the UK-US press conference is definitely my fave.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfn90OdrcfY
Evan:
Ah yes, I understand. Those two are the best songs of the movie and any of them worthy to be deemed 'the best'.
I love the understated delicacy that is Portuguese Love Theme but also the buoyant energy that comes from PM's Theme so I'm with you there.
"Bonita Aurelia"
sure it's nothing original and some of it is VERY silly, but I love this movie and it always puts me in a good mood!
My best friend compelled me to watch this with her when I revealed that I had never seen it, and I can't say that it's something I would ever want to watch again, not because I think it's bad, but because it's not my type of movie. I can't say I found it terribly memorable.
I saw the film only once and overall liked, but not loved it.
And it's strange I found the "porn pair" story the most romantic... but I did. :lol:
That GIF is priceless nevertheless.
Try to watch this every holiday season. Whatever. I love it.
this movie seems to be on tv every other month down here in oz, so while i don't love it i have seen parts of it many times
my favourite moment is when kiera knightley is laughing about all the wedding photos being of her and mid-sentence she realises how andrew lincoln feels about her; she plays the revelation so subtly
but the best thing was the use of joni mitchell's gravelly rerecording of 'both sides now' over the emma thompson scene
It's just so interesting to see how certain actors were in such different places in their careers. Colin Firth, January Jones, Andrew Lincoln, Chiwetel...who knew that they would all continue to blow up in different ways.
I think it is just a gem! It is officially on my annual Christmas watchlist and I don't get tired of it. Sure, it has some flaws and some "too good to be true" moments but overall it is one of the best romantic/Christmas movies ever made. I rarely indulge myself with romantic movies, but this one is a keeper.
What sticks out to me after all these years is Bill Nighy's character's realization that his manager and friend, Joe is the true love of his life. I haven't seen the movie since I saw it in the theater... but I'm pretty sure that's what happened. This was an examination and realization of love in another way than all of the other loves that the film had tackled.
Emmy Thompson crying to Joni Mitchell. 'Nuff said. It's the moment that elevated the whole movie and provided a needed antidote from all the sugar sweetness.
*LOL meant Emma, clearly. I had Shameless in my head from earlier...
I thought this film was rubbish, apart from Emma Thompson. Richard Curtis' films have steady declined in quality. Four Weddings was the best & he's been on the slide since then.
Any of the scenes with Colin Firth and Lucia Moniz. This is a Christmas staple in our home, and more often than not the wife and I fast-forward to the swim in the lake and the end scene at the Portuguese restaurant. B for the film, A for Firth and Moniz.
Great article Mallory Ortberg. Both our narrator and David read the "Cast Away" article already. "Look, this whole world is wild at heart and crazy on top, so let's nail this down, okay? Plane crash/interdimensional vortex/extraterrestrial abduction...shit happens.