Rating: 
Summary: Hate Actually
Review: I was looking forward to a film with such a great cast. However, I was so distracted by the anti-American sentiment that I couldn't actually enjoy or believe the story. The director/writer clearly used the film to broadcast England's dislike of Americans. Purposely, he begins the film by making reference to the American tragedy on September 11, claiming that love actually increased in England after the event and was apparent at London's Heathrow Airport. It was as if he was claiming the event for himself. The director stereotypically characterizes American girls as ignorant, slutty cowgirls which is a stereotype that is old, tired and unbelievable. The speech by the Prime Minister to the President clearly makes a statement of England's indignant and unsupportive view of America. It was difficult to finish watching the film after this. I certainly hope none of my dear friends in Hartfordshire and London would succumb to believing this narrow, ignorant view of Americans. Maybe it would have been a funnier story to me without the backdrop of the World Trade Center still clearly visable in our culture. The director cannot fully fathom or appreciate the horrific act of war committed on American soil in 2000.
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst movies ever!
Review: What's with all the sex first of all? There's no need for any of it. Secondly, what was the point of the movie in the first place, love? It was a bunch of couples cheating on each other! It was not a good movie at all and I recommend Lost in Translation over this! Don't waist your money!
Rating: 
Summary: Too true
Review: This movie is one of the most charming films that have come out in a long time. The intertwining plots make it much more intriguing than others, and it's love stories along with the heart break is so intense and true you can identify with each situation one way or another. A beautiful film, and fantastic cast.
Rating:
Summary: Loved It! It's Soooo Funny!
Review: If you liked 'bridget jones diary' and 'about a boy' you'll love this movie!
Rating: 
Summary: The Ultimate Feel Good Film
Review: LOVE ACTUALLY may be the ultimate feel good movie in that there's nothing at all "deep" or "thought provoking" in it. It's simply a very romantic comedy with a very happy ending. There is emotional payoff all around, and, while that might make some people groan, really, in this film, it's not a bad thing (except for the ending, that was clichéd and artificial).LOVE ACTUALLY explores all sorts of love. Love between parents and children, between siblings, between long-married persons, between friends and, of course, romantic love. Lots and lots of romantic love. Romantic love, as would be expected, takes center stage in LOVE ACTUALLY. LOVE ACTUALLY is a small, intimate film with a large cast. That's because it explores nine different stories and, to the credit of screenwriter, Richard Curtis, we never get confused or wonder who cares about whom. Although LOVE ACTUALLY isn't strictly a Christmas film, it does take place during the holiday season, five weeks before Christmas, to be more precise. It begins with the story of ageing, cynical songwriter Billy Mack (Bill Nighy), as he rewrites the lyrics to his one and only hit hoping for Christmastime success. After Billy causes disaster on a talk show, we cut to the more romantic story of Jamie (Colin Firth), a man deeply in love with his Portuguese maid, Aurelia (Sienna Guillory). When Jamie decides to knock off work and come home early, however, it gets a surprise that would be unwelcome at any time of the year, but more so during the festive holiday months. LOVE ACTUALLY is also the story of widower, Daniel (Liam Neeson) who can't seem to connect with his stepson, Sam (Thomas Sangster). Karen (Emma Thompson) comes to his aid, but Karen, the viewer learns, thinks she has problems of her own when she picks up on hints that her husband, Harry (Alan Rickman) is having a torrid affair with his secretary, Mia (Heike Makatsch). Karen's brother just happens to be the newly elected Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) who has fallen hopelessly in love with his young assistant, Natalie (Martine McCutcheon.) Then there's Harry's assistant, Susan (Laura Linney) who decides happiness, for her, lies with a much younger man, Carl, (Rodrigo Santoro). Two body doubles (Martin Freedman and Joanna Page), are, strangely, too shy to make much headway in the romance department, at least at first. And, what would a romantic comedy be without at least one wedding? This one involves Juliet (Keira Knightley and Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor), but is complicated (of course) by the fact that Peter's best friend, Mark (Andrew Lincoln) is deeply in love with, who else? Juliet. And, one mustn't forget about Colin (Kris Marshall), a man who believes there's no woman left for him to conquer in the UK, so he leaves to conquer the female population of the US instead. Not many writers, of books, stage plays, or screenplays, are very good at handling a large cast of characters, but Curtis is always dead center and he always keeps the audience oriented, no small achievement. Never once did I think, "Now who is this and who does he love?" Curtis is helped along by the fact that everyone involved turns in a really top-notch performance. Colin Firth was a joy to watch and, surprisingly, his talent for physical comedy is equal to his dramatic talent. Emma Thompson is, of course, wonderful, as she always is. Ditto for Laura Linney. Kris Marshall is hilarious and for those who think Hugh Grant can't play a convincing PM, think again. He can and he does. One of the best subplots, for me, at least, was that involving the love triangle among Knightley, Ejiofor and Lincoln, and Ejiofor is really a first-rate actor. LOVE ACTUALLY isn't without its problems, though. While nine love stories might not be too many for a novel, it's a bit much for a film because time constraints demand that each "couple" (romantic or otherwise) only be give a very small amount of screen time. Everyone is sure to find one story more engaging than the others and want to spend more time with the people involved in that particular story, but, of course, that's not to be. And then, there's the ending I mentioned at the beginning of this review. It's more than a little clichéd; it's a lot clichéd, if one can even use that term. It's been seen so many times that most of us could write it in our sleep. Still, the comedy and the "feel good" qualities of LOVE ACTUALLY win out over its few flaws. It's a fun film to watch and it certainly must have been a fun film in which to act. It's too thoughtful (though not thought-provoking) to be mindless fluff, even mindless fluff of the highest order and I, for one, really appreciated that. LOVE ACTUALLY is a film for people just wanting to relax with a good romantic comedy that really won't require them to think too much. It's a fun story that's well acted by everyone involved.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment Abounds
Review: Because of the gifted cast and director, I had high hopes for a pleasantly distracting evening with this film--alas, twas not to be. I'm not sure if Curtis was A) cynically going for profit and the Ulitimate Cheese Factor, B) making an over-the-top parody of himself and/or modern romances, or C) really has an infantile view of adult relationships, but this movie simply didn't work for me or my wife (and we normally love the type of film the reviewers touted this to be). The characters were nearly all stereotyped caricatures of a thirteen-year-old's idea of adults. The mini-story presented by Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman was the best by far, and the film would have been much better if this were the central plot, dispensing with much of the rest. All of these actors are so much better than the crudely drawn and simplistic people Curtis has them portraying, and many (especially Hugh Grant) seem to be merely playing satirical versions of the roles that made them "famous" rather than making serious attempts to give depth to the roles. Still, I can't fault the acting, really. The cast seems to have made the best of the material given them--the flaw of the film is the insultingly juvenile script, abetted by some surprisingly amateurish (or ineptly manipulative) direction on the part of Curtis. Sorry for the negative review, but I hope to warn viewers expecting an entertaining, mature film with some depth to it. Although there are a few good scenes, overall this film is superficial and false, filled with incredibly unrealistic actions and dialog, never allowing me to suspend disbelief for more than a minute or two at a time.
Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: The interwoven story is great, the acting wonderful, and the cast is so star-studded I went blind! What was most unbelievable to me, was the fact that almost all of the main characters had integrity: a widower raising his stepson after his wife's death, the author who courts his new found love instead of hauling her off to bed (even though they inhabit a house together for several hours a day), the man who denies his own feelings to walk away from a married woman...the list goes on.
The only thing that prevented me from giving this 5 stars was the couple who are stand-ins for a porn film. Why they had to stick this in was beyond me.
Rating:
Summary: A little confusing but fun
Review: I love any movie with Colin Firth...so I bought it. It's like a "fruit basket turnover". There are so many subplots in the movie and everyone is connected somehow. For example, Emma Thompson's character is actually Hugh Grant's character's sister. You didn't know that until the middle of the movie. Alan Rickman's would be mistress' boyfriend is in love with another couple who is related to the movie. Confusing? Yes but is done with a subtle glee behind it. The ending is perfect.
Rating: 
Summary: Not everyone thinks swearing and puppy love is "cute"
Review: Boy, I wanted to like this movie. The professional reviewers had prepared me to think that this movie was at the head of it's class when it came to the theater. Bill Nighy is rightfully praised for stealing the movie and with a cast that includes Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman and Liam Neeson, what could go wrong? For starters there was the "cute" idea that a couple who serve as body doubles in a porno movie would actually be shy and have difficulty communicating to each other that they really were attracted to one another in between the times that they were naked and bringing their private parts together. When the first of these many scenes appeared on the screen a white-haired couple seated in front of the Mrs and myself walked out. We were not offended enough to leave, but these scenes were unfortunately not particularly engaging or believable either. Then there is the cute notion of the assistant to the Prime Minister of England who is commonly given to firing off language that my mother (and I bet your mother too) would call vulgar, he he, whenever the Prime Minister happens to be just coming in the door. This is aside from the notion that her character is a full generation younger than he, yet they are *destined* to be together. Has anyone else seen too many "Romantic Comedies" that end with one of the characters (usually the female) leaving (usually forever) their male love interest by heading towards an airport, only to have their true love come crashing towards that plane to catch them at the last second? That cliche was ALREADY too old for me, and to see it trotted out again by having Liam Neeson's pre-pubescent son rushing through the airport after his pre-pubescent sweetie made me groan. Bill Nighy runs away with his scenes, and the sub-plot with Colin Firth and the Italian house girl was fairly satisfying, though predictable. In short - there are some eight or so stories going on here at once, and only about half are believable or interesting, while a few would shock your Mom so badly she'd faint.
Rating:
Summary: Not Bad, Actually
Review: Richard Curtis and Hugh Grant collaborate again in this light, somewhat sentimental, romantic comedy. The film features a great cast which includes Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Alan Rickman, Laura Linney and an especially hilarious performance by Bill Nighy. The movie is set at Christmastime and follows the sometimes interconnected lives of numerous couples. This isn't great art and isn't meant to be. It is, however, really good entertainment and a nice way to spend a couple of hours.
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