Rating: 
Summary: I was surprised!
Review: This was a very entertaining and uplifting movie. It follows the lives of many different people who are all somehow connected to one another (friends, family, etc). It shows the hearbreaks and triumphs of love. The story involves so many people that it's hard to list them all here. There's the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant, not Tony Blair), a boss, a writer, a man who just lost his wife, a couple that just got married, a man who has decided that he can't find love in Britain and must go to the States instead, a rock star. Their relationship trials are very different - finding love, keeping love, confessing love. Not all of the relationships are of the happily-ever-after nature. Instead of telling one big story, the movie shows many little stories. They all fit neatly together to prove the theme of the movie - "love actually is all around."
Rating: 
Summary: Christmas is all around
Review: Love Actually is like getting something for Christmas that you didn't think of wanting but still like. It's not a study in cinematic brilliance, nor does it try to be. Instead, Love Actually gives us various 20-minute snapshots of just about every type of romantic-comedy you can think of. From infidelity to the politics of being a politician, from death to unrequited love, Love Actually tackles matters of the heart quite deftly through its largely British cast. The characters are loosely related but the stories were wisely kept separate. Some of the more affecting tales include Liam Neeson and Emma Thompson, who are friends. His wife has died, and he is trying desperately to connect with his son, who could be the most mature character in the film. Neeson and Thompson both give ridiculously measured performances that are an absolute testament to their acting ability. Elsewhere, Hugh Grant, as the Prime Minister who is in love with a Monica Lewinsky-type character played with big-eyed cuteness by Martine McCutcheon, turns in another great performance and shows us why he is the premier leading man in romantic-comedies today. The story involving Keira Knightley and her husband's friend who secretly loves her is well-done and just slight enough to edge its emotional resonance toward the audience's under-25 crowd. The aging-rocker peddling a Christmas single story is without question the most entertaining one in the film. Bill Nighy is just hilarious as a kind of Keith Richards with a side of Neil Diamond character. Colin Firth's novelist falling in love with his maid story is reliably warming, and Laura Linney's brother with a disability story is just heart-breaking. There is also a story about an average British guy who thinks, correctly, that he can get an American girl simply because of his accent that provides some comic relief towards the tail-end of the film, where some of the stories hit their emotional climax. Love Actually is a great holiday film. It leaves with you the kind of airy awareness that effective holiday movies do. It'll make you think and feel better without completely taking over your psyche so much so that you end up slicing your arm off where the turkey should be. Complaints are minor: the hilarious Rowan Atkinson is given such a bit part that you barely remember he was in the movie. It would have been a real holiday treat if Atkinson was featured in his own story. And, finally, the movie is a little bit harsh with its weight jokes. Martine McCutcheon isn't fat at all frankly. Those are minor gripes, however. Love Actually is one of those movies that everyone says can be enjoyed by anyone. And, for once, they're right.
Rating: 
Summary: Too cute by half and way too long
Review: Christmas is that time of year when everybody wants a special someone with whom to cozy-up to the fire and roast chestnuts. LOVE, ACTUALLY wallows in that theme with a superabundance of couples and rogue singles looking for love, or at least sex, under the mistletoe. This circus d'amour has more performers than Barnum and Bailey. Hugh Grant is the newly installed British Prime Minister who's entranced by his tea girl (Martine McCutcheon), while the PM's sister Karen (Emma Thompson) is in imminent danger of losing husband Harry (Alan Rickman) to an office vamp. Meanwhile, Harry's assistant (Laura Linney) and a co-worker (Rodrigo Santoro) have the hots for each other, but can't seem to connect. On the periphery of the script are a writer (Colin Firth) falling for his non-English speaking housekeeper (Lucia Moniz), the very pre-teen stepson (Thomas Sangster) of widower (Liam Neeson) infatuated with a slightly older girl, a young man hopelessly smitten with his best friend's new bride Juliet (Keira Knightley), a perennial loser off to the States where the Babes are ostensibly more receptive, two soft-porn actors, and a lecherous U.S. President (Billy Bob Thornton). Always in the background is has-been rock singer Billy Mack (Bill Nighy), whose cynical Christmas version of an old hit just may top the charts by Boxing Day. The audience is introduced to all of these plots in the first thirty minutes. The over-the-top cuteness of it all, plus Grant cast as a Prime Minister, would have made me walk out had I been seeing it alone. (Grant's hesitant and shyly diffident character is consistent with all those he's played in a string of romantic comedies - not of the type with the Right Stuff that would get him elected PM in the real world, much less even mayor. In contrast, consider Michael Douglas as the Chief Executive in THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT; he was believable in the role.) There are some very funny moments. As when Harry, under pressure and impatient, is having a gift for his seducer interminably wrapped by a too helpful clerk at a posh department store (Harrods?) before his wife shows up. And when the PM goes door-to-door in "the dodgy part of Wandsworth". There are some deeply poignant moments also. As the look on Juliet's face as she comes to realize the implications of her wedding video. (Keira Knightley is absolutely bewitching.) And when Karen listens to Joni Mitchell's rendition of "Both Sides Now". It's not that LOVE,ACTUALLY is unentertaining. It's just that, at 129 minutes of run time, there's too much of a good thing. Paring down the multitude of subplots to just two or three would have helped considerably. Less is sometimes better, especially when it would allow some pretty good actors more room to shine. And if the producers had been willing to pay enough, why couldn't they have gotten Bill Clinton to play the Prez; Thornton's cameo was ridiculous. This is a film that'll play just fine on the small screen. Wait for the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: I Actually Loved "Love Actually" -- And I'm A Guy!!
Review: When my wife said she really wanted to see "Love Actually", I was indifferent, not overly anxious to go sit in a theater and watch another "chick-flick", but equally uninterested in spending a night home alone-and so we went. I have to confess, it was a great film. The premise is a bunch of individual relationships reflecting the many facets of love. At one end of the spectrum, there is the dignified, new elected Prime Minister of England, (Hugh Grant), who is at once smitten with one of the many assistants working in his office. At the other end there is a brash, aging rock star, whose self indulgent lifestyle and brazen behavior has made him a loner, never having found true love. In between are seven other relationships-newlyweds, an old married couple struggling with fidelity, a husband whose wife has recently died leaving him with a step-son he hardly knows, a man who struggles with bachelorhood after he catches his wife sleeping with his brother, a young couple who meet on the set of a movie they are both "starring" in, a woman who struggles with approaching a man she has secretly loved for years, and a young man who sets out for the United States in search of the other great American dream-dating a supermodel. The movie is fun and funny, at once touching and satirical, painting a vivid portrait of the many struggles every individual and couple faces throughout the course of their particular lives and in the life they share with one another. The film has a very warm feel to it, and really touches on the many issues that love carries with it. It is great for men and women alike. For the men, the story touches on the many challenges we all experience in trying to live up to the expectations, demands and needs of the women we love. For women, it has the warmth of romance, combined with the reality of the imperfections men never see in themsleves. Surely, this film is a reminder that all relationships, even the great ones, have flaws, speed-bumps and little curves that nobody can expect or see until they encounter them. Whats more, this film is genuinely funny, and will leave the audience laughing as they exit the theater. Rated R for sexuality, nudity and language, the movie should be reserved for older viewers. The R rating is there with good reason and should not be ignored. This is not a film for children, and it is doubtful that children would enjoy this as much as the more "mature" audience for which the film is intended. So men, fear not, this movie isn't just for women, you will enjoy it as much, if not more, than they do. Go see it, I promise you won't be disappointed. Scott Kolecki
Rating:
Summary: Love Actually IS !!
Review: There are many great reviews of this movie already so I won't be repetitious. It IS a must-see, even for it's shortcomings and America bashing in a few scenes. America, after all, is a giant now-formidible presence. I think it's natural for someone to want to bash us. I'm getting off the track. See this wonderful movie and judge for yourself. It is R rated so keep that in mind for the children. I can't imagine how any adult, male or female, would be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Actually...This is a very good movie!
Review: Christmastime in London - shoppers milling about, cool, crisp winter breezes, with mistletoe and a good dose of holiday cheer enough to fill many a stocking. Add to this bastion of sweet Christmas goodies, four various scenarios involving people of different professions, all of whom juggling both home and family with a roundabout love life. This makes for an interesting combination of a full-blown soap opera, combined with the wit and wisdom of an intellectual novel. Piece the entire puzzle together, and you have a well written, directed and produced motion picture that is "Love Actually". Hugh Grant is "The Prime Minister" - a sort of chap trying to keep a small nation afloat, while attempting to keep his love life at bay as well. "LA"'s other leading man, Colin Firth, is also trying to balance out his life, and falls for a Portugese woman (who doesn't speak English) along his tumultuous journey. Bill Nighy plays a pompous, arrogant middle-aged rock star named Billy Mack, who has everything and wants even more (more people of the female persuasion, that is). Donald Sutherland look and sound alike actor Alan Rickman nearly steals the show here, as his portrayal of a book author will turn many a head, thus making the critics really sit up and take notice. The actors aren't the only attraction here. The contrasting architectural backdrops of "old and new" London blend in perfectly with the film's storyline. When looking for a romantic setting, one can't find a more romantic city than London to center a story around. Of "Love Actually"'s funnier moments, the prize for comedic excellence would most likely go to Bill Nighy for his portrayal of a flashy, overbearing and conceited rock star. This guy gets the funniest lines in the entire movie, even stealing a scene (or two) from Mr. Grant! Another priceless and hilarious moment, is when "The Prime Minister" and his limo driver are singing "Good King Wenceslas" (as "mock carolers") to a group of children! Alas, there are many more priceless and funny moments from where these came. Great supporting roles are also supplied by Keira Knightley (as one of the daughters) and from Rowan Atkinson (as a department store clerk), among others. With so much to offer, "Love Actually" is sure to be in the running for "Best Picture of 2003" honors, as well as being a major box office draw this holiday season. So, whether you're bitten by the love bug or not, you "Actually" don't want to miss all the "Love" that's destined to come your way at your local venue today!
Rating:
Summary: Long awaited feel good Christmas movie for adults
Review: Love Actually is a perfect Christmas "feel good" movie for adults. After all, why should children be the only ones to enjoy Christmas? Christmas is a big deal in the UK, and this movie takes us there to experience it. Somewhat romanticized, of course. Some people may believe the movie could be overly sweet. Don't be misled, this movie has plenty of blue moods in it, but it is, in the end, upbeat with a feel good ending. The film follows several romantic developments among a bunch of people who's lives casually overlap. Love is the consistent link among all: from the prime minister, down to a 12 year old boy. What is particularly poignant is that the feeling of love (or falling in love) is true across all the relationships. We feel as empathetic of the little boy's pursuit of the most popular girl in school, as we do for the prime minister's fall for the serving girl. What struck me most about this movie (apart from the brilliant job it did to bring love to live on the screen), was the well integrated characters that ranged from average boy to popular school girl, from prime minister to serving girl, from estranged wife to cheating husband, from impossible love to mixed race marriage, and a silly brit who goes to America to pick up girls based solely on his accent. All of these scenarios strike true and real (well, except the last one maybe ...). The movie, by US standards, is very "exposed"; there are a bunch of nude scenes for a particularly endearing couple who meet through their work as nude body doubles for actors. Even though they have seen each other naked from day one, it takes them quite a while to work up towards a romantic kiss. Five stars for bringing love and Christmas to the screen like no other movie has done for a long time. I anticipate that this will become a standard Christmas movie to be shown on TV for many years to come - and so it should. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: What a fantastic Movie!
Review: What a fantastic movie Love Actually is! Don't miss it. The fun, the music, the nudity, the tears, the laughter. Great acting by Hugh Grant and Liam Neeson. Everyone shines! One great big Christmas movie all wrapped up for you! I loved it as did my hubby. I will definitely see it again and bring the WHOLE family too! :) Merry Merry to all! Barbie
Rating:
Summary: THIS nudity - so what?
Review: I don't know how many other reviews I've read which all downgrade this film because of the "blatant nudity" in it. Yes, there is nudity and the nudity is related "distantly" to sex but those scenes are superfluous to the movie. What you're essentially seeing is the naked body, nothing to be ashamed of, right? Would the previous reviewers refuse to see Michelangelo's great works of art? Or so many other great masters who painted nudes? No one dares call those "pornographic." It is so obvious that the two actors who portray naked stand-in actors are NOT naked to each other. If that's all you see, you've missed the point of the whole movie. Politics between the USA and the UK? Forget it. The scene wasn't long enough to even draw attention to itself, except for those Yanks and Brits looking for a good fight anyway. LOOK at the settings! LISTEN to the script! WATCH the actors' faces! ABSORB the feelings emanating from the screen! I only downgraded this movie to 4 stars rather than 5 because I personally didn't think there was enough of Colin Firth in it! I loved this movie and will buy a copy as soon as it is available. Recommend you look at the movie from perhaps a different angle, and do the same.
Rating:
Summary: best movie I have seen in years
Review: I cried at least 4 times, clapped my hands (out loud in the movie theater) and I was not the only one. At the end, I felt like giving it a standing ovation..but held back (it is a movie after all).
this is the best movie I have seen in a long time. Completely romantic for all ages, for all genders...my boyfriend even liked it (so it is not just a chick flick)
I wholeheartedly recommend it
Enjoy
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