The tagline for "Love Actually," the new film from famed British writer/director Richard Curtis, is simply, "Very romantic. Very comedy." And it's right on point. The film is indeed both very sweet and very funny. "Love Actually" is composed of no less than eight separate but intertwined stories of love of all sorts. It is based on the uplifting message that despite all the nay-sayers, when you really look at the world, love actually is everywhere.
"Love Actually" is truly jam-packed with stars, too many to name, all of whom turn out excellent performances, and most of whom are brilliantly British. For whatever reason, the British are somehow so much more romantic and comedic than we brash Americans could ever be. The film blatantly plays on this theme by following the journey of Colin (Kris Marshall), who after years of rejection in England decides that he'll have better luck in love if he heads for America. This story is definitely the most ridiculous, almost to the extent of being campy, but you'll still end up laughing in spite of yourself.
The British gift for romance and comedy is also infused in the film's other stories in a variety of subtler ways.
No American actor bumbles quite so endearingly as does Hugh Grant in his portrayal of the fledgling British Prime Minister, or has the sincerity of Colin Firth as Jamie, the broken-hearted, reclusive writer. No American actress successfully combines youth, charm and sophistication quite like Keira Knightly does in her depiction of the aptly named Juliet. Okay, perhaps these statements are exaggerations, and resident American actress Laura Linney gives a heart-wrenching performance as Sarah, but there's just something about those Brits that gets me every time.
The film's success could also be a result of the talent of Richard Curtis, who has also written and directed such wonderful romantic comedies as "Bridget Jones' Diary," "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill." Curtis's strength is in creating romantic comedies that are actually funny and not just pretending to be funny in the trailers so that you can convince your boyfriend to accompany you to yet another chic flick -- you didn't really think you were fooling anyone, did you?
When it is funny, which is most of the time, "Love Actually" is hilarious. Some characters are funny because they are eccentric, others because they are wonderfully, painfully human. Either way, you'll laugh out loud until your stomach hurts. There are also parts of "Love Actually" that are profoundly not funny, but rather sad and tender. Both Karen (Thompson) and Sarah (Linney) have quality breakdowns that will have you wanting to jump up onscreen and give them a hug.
"Love Actually" does not exclusively portray romantic love, which is refreshing. The film depicts old love, new love, forbidden love, romantic love, familial love, platonic love and love lost. Even more refreshing is that not all of the stories resolve in the ways we might want them to. Some end happily, some end sadly, some don't end at all and are left unsettled, perhaps meant for the viewer to conclude in his own mind or perhaps just meant to remain uncomfortably unfinished for eternity.
This multiplicity of stories does prove problematic at points, however. I found myself occasionally becoming impatient when a favorite story had not been featured for a while; then again, I'm not sure which one I could bear to get rid of. In addition, some of the funny little ways in which Curtis tried to intertwine the lives of the characters involved were both flimsy and superfluous.
All in all, however, "Love Actually" is a good solid film. If you're a girly girl, add a star and bring some tissues. If you're a manly man, subtract a star and go see "The Matrix Revolutions" for the seventeenth time. If you fall somewhere in between like the rest of us, then you'll enjoy the film for what it is: A charming film about finding love at Christmastime.
Sure, "Love Actually" probably won't be winning Oscars anytime soon, but it's a good time and definitely worth seeing. It's the cinematic equivalent of a good, poppy love song. Nothing terribly unique or earth-shatteringly beautiful, and yet you can't help but like it, even if you don't know why. But you do. You want to be in love. Don't we all?
Four stars.
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