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Love Actually (Widescreen Edition)

Love Actually (Widescreen Edition)

List Price: $19.98
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent cast and good entertainment
Review: This movie is very entertaining and well done. It is about all aspects and forms of love. It is told in a light-hearted, entertaining way. One interesting thing about the movie is that one of the many characters is completely ridiculous and unrealistic, and another is the complete opposite - serious acting, actors and theme. Also, it is very clear some kinds of love do hurt. Such as the unrequited love. Or loving a partner who strays. Or the death of a loved one. And the sister who, well, see the movie. All kinds of love here. And all kinds of acting, and all kinds of themes. A unique way to script and produce a movie, that is refreshing and works! An excellent Christmas movie about Christmas, and love in all its forms. If you can tolerate a bare bottom or two and some humorous lewdness that is part of the theme of the skit, go see this movie. I highly recommend it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the greatest, funniest, and warmest movie I've ever seen!
Review: Everyone should go watch!! It's great!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Yawns... Oh goody! Notting Hill IV!
Review: Hugh grant is about as talented as Michael Moore. Seriously, this dude's so overrated it's scary. He plays the same character in every single movie a la Julia Roberts (eww!) with the same, annoying romantic "comedy" moments. Finally I found someone (whos not a guy) who hates Hugh Grant movies. If you're a man, I seriously feel sorry for you if your wife/girlfriend who takes you to see this. Maybe you can sneak out and check out "Kill Bill Vol 1" while she goes to the bathroom. F-

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love Actually
Review: I just got home from watching this brilliant movie. I took my 12 year old daughter and even though there were several nude scenes, I was never embarassed to have her setting next to me. This movie was not your typical hollywood boy meets girl flick. This film showed you several sides of LOVE. The love between a parent and child, love between siblings, old love, new love, love from afar, and love without words, for love is truly the international language. I laughed , I cried, but most of all I LOVED while I watched, and as the movie ended I saw I was not alone. People were smiling, holding hands, and in an all around better mood for having been there. I would highly recomend ACTUALLY falling in LOVE with it too!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love Actually is wonderful, despite the political undertone.
Review: I was in a very blue mood, in need of a pick up, when I went to see this movie, all by myself mind you. I thought it was one of the best romantic comedies of recent years. It will surely be the sleeper that "Sleepless in Seattle" and "When Harry Met Sally" were. I didn't go to it based on the writer/director's previous works because I thought "Notting Hill" was one of the most boring movies of the century. But, it seemed like a feel-good movie, and that is what I needed.

Some say that the number of story lines, characters was too much, but I disagree. Each brought their own special tone to the movie. Even the porn stand-ins. I know a lot of people thought the nudity was unnecessary, and uncalled for, but, in my opion, it was simply trying to emphasize that even in such rediculous situations, love can be found. And the idea of the couple who have seen each other naked, imitated sex, were so sweet and innocent, timid in their coupling as when John shyly attempts to kiss Judy, was very sweet, in my opionion. Yes, the scenes were a bit much, but, I think they worked for the movie, and it is rated R after all.

The one scene that I initially resisted was that of Colin Firth's character Jamie falling for his maid, who didn't speak English. At first, I thought how rediculous, they don't really know each other. Then I realized something in the opening scenes of their relationship when she jumped into the water to retrieve his papers. It was that scene that made me realize how he had fallen for her, and how that was a possibility given his past experience of being cheated on. This woman, who barely new him, was sensitive enough to chase after his rediculous manuscript, in cold waters, that is love.

Their were several jabs at Americans that *almost* turned me away from the movie. First, the jab of the Prime Minister at the US President (Hugh and Billy Bob). Sure, it probably was meant to come across as the PM putting the US Pres in his place over his handling of the assistant, but in reality, lets face it, it was a political jab at the US. I know the Brits may be upset at their own PM for his handling of recent events, and as polls show, so are the vast majority of Americans, but this movie was not the appropriate place for such comments.

The second jab at Americans was when the less than gorgeous Colin was able to come to the states, Wisconsin at that, and immediately get 3-4 girls to bed him? Just because he had a British accent? What do non-Americans think of us American women?! I know few women who would do the same. Of course, he did find them in a bar, but even so, it really makes me wonder what the Brits think about us American women.

I do think that more time could have been given to some characters, such as we never really know if Harry (Alan Rickman) bedded his secretary, but, overall, I thought it was a poignant movie with a great reflection of love. And it may have seemed like some of the "love" was forced, since after all this was just a 5 week period, but I thought it was all appropriately encountered.

I think one of the best played out seens was that of the hysterical (yeah, he almost stole the movie) scene of Billy Mack with his manager. At first you think it is going to turn into a gay thing, but then you realize that it wasn't. It was instead a man who realizes that he does indeed love his manager, who has put up with him for so many years, and stood by him through the thick and the thin. The embodiment of a good friendship, and a man admitting his love for another man. That almost brought tears to my eyes.

And finally, the real scene stealer, Miss Olivia Olson as the American Joanna who has stolen the heart of Liam Neeson's character Daniel's step-son Sam. The movie was worth the 6$ (matinee) just to hear her rendition of "All I want for Christmas." I had to immediately go to Wal_mart when I realized the soundtrack was out. That little girl can SING!

So, if you just need a feel-good movie, can tolerate a little bit of nudity, (ok, a lot of it in some scenes) and can handle a little bit of US bashing (it is a film made by the Brits after all), then I highly recommend this movie. Don't let the political undertone ruin it for you. Just stick to the "Love Actually" portion of the movie to see that Love is actually everywhere, from the newly found romance of the PM, to the love of a 10 year old school boy, to the love of a man and his longtime friend and manager, to the love of a sister for her mentally ill brother. I walked away feeling both happiness and sadness. How is that for a movie?

Go see it and judge it for yourself. :-)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very adult comedy about Love
Review: Love Actually is a sparkling Christmas comedy about eight couples and the love in their lives. Hugh Grant stars as the newly-elected British Prime Minister, who falls in love with his unsophisticated secretary. The wonderful Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman play a bored couple whose marriage is on the rocks. Handsome Colin Firth plays a writer working in France who is attracted to his Portuguese assistant, who doesn't speak English. Bill Nighy nearly steals the show as an outrageously flamboyant middle-aged ex-rock star who has a new hit.

All of the actors are excellent in their roles. Hugh Grant is my favorite, playing his usual, adorable, Prince Charming role to perfection. Thompson and Rickman are compelling as spouses who have lost the spark, at least for each other. The script is solidly funny, and poignant as well. (Note: Bring your hankie.)

The film is overloaded with way too many subplots to keep track of and would have been much better if it had concentrated on the main three or four. One of the stories that could have been omitted deals with a couple in the porn business, and there is a great deal of nudity. For this reason, I think the film should be rated NC-17. But it is a real feel-good movie and a genuinely funny comedy that will leave you smiling through your tears.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Feel Good Movie
Review: Loved it from begining. The two hours flew by. You have to listen to the opening by Hugh Grant. Acting was very good. Would love to see a sequel next year.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: America-bashing disguised as Holiday Romance
Review: I feel like I was duped. I paid to see a nice little holiday romance movie and wound up paying for something quite different.

This was America bashing at it's worst, as the insults to Americans did NOT fit into the rest of the movie.

Save yourself some aggravation and don't go see this unless you just feel like being insulted as an American citizen. For instance, they had the Sling-Blade character play the American president, and all the other Americans in the movie were prostitutes, and stupid ones at that. Forget it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I actually loved this movie!
Review: i thoght this movie was so fun! i went and saw it with my mom (because i'm just 14) and she loved it too. it has alot of nudeity in so its not the best if you want to take your kids. and the plot line is so cool, because all of the storys are some how connected, so that makes it really cool. ohh, and also, see this movie if your a hugh grant fan;)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Tidings of Comfort and Joy, tra-la
Review: LOVE, actually, is exactly what makes this noisy, crazy, absurd, hostile world function and once again Director Richard Curtis proves that good writing, good casting, and fast-paced direction can, in his hands, produce another treasurable gem of a film.

It is all in the title - beginning and ending a film capturing the myriad people arriving and leaving at a busy gate at Heathrow Airport in London, freeze-framing some of those precious fleeting moments into extended and interrelated stories, and in doing so Curtis has created a film that is more than what the doctor ordered for a seasonal ( no, year-round) dollop of medicine to cure almost everyone's current disillusionment.

There are many stories about relationships: ones that are worn thin (the tenderness of Emma Thompson facing Alan Rickman's marital wanderings); ones that develop (Colin Firth at his very finest as a stuffy writer who loses his heart to a Portuguese speaking maid - Lucia Moniz), Keira Knightly/Andrew Lincoln, Chiwetal Ejofor in a puzzling and surprising extended love situation, Laura Linney shyly in love with the always superb Rodrigo Santoro but quietly and sincerely sacrificing that possibility in favor of caring for her mentally ill brother; and relationships that are created out of needs beyond the status quo (Hugh Grant as his usual British self and Prime Minister at that, in love with his new secretary0, Liam Neeson as a warm widowed father who helps his winsome son pledge his love for an 'impossible reach' American girl, and the ever creative Bill Nighy zanily discovering his love for his chubby male manager). There are other people we encounter such as Rowan Atkinson, again hilarious in his most understated role, Billy Bob Thornton as the US President who evokes a hefty bit of British response to the current USA International presence, and so many more. These varied sorts are all brought together as Christmas approaches and in the end we see them literally fade into the melange of the facelessness of Heathrow airport - making the cirle come round.

Yes, there is a bit of raw humor and there may be those who take it out of context and consider it crude. But I think it is to Richard Curtis' credit that he makes such diversions simply part of the quilt that connects us all. This film is exploding with tenderness, warmth, laughter, and US, ACTUALLY. Recommended in repeated doses!


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