Rating: 
Summary: Charming & Captivating.
Review: My mother and I enjoyed this film very much. It was hilarious, it was touching, it was happy, it was sad, and most of all it was worth watching more than once. The cast is amazing; needless to say, Alan Rickman was my main reason for wanting to see it, and as usual he does not disappoint. ^.~ Good music in this movie, too...some great songs are picked up during the course of the film, like "Here with me" by Dido. Overall I was impressed. The best funny scene was Rickman's character trying to buy a quick gift at the department store while Rowan Atkinson holds him up by adding trimming after trimming to the overdone present. The best sad moment was the incident with the signs: "...to me you are perfect, and my wasted heart will love you forever..." Oh, yeah, and that little boy was cute too.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as I thought it would be.
Review: After hearing the buzz about "Love Actually" I was very much looking forward to the DVD, well now that I have seen it, I can say that I was not very impressed with it. The various stories take place in the month in December in the weeks leading up to Christmas. For the most part, I found most the stories to be so unbelivible. The only one that seemed real was the story of actress Laura Linney character trying to find love while dealing with a mentally ill brother. That story was the only reason that I gave "Love Actually" three stars. But truly a movie that is not as good as the previews make it out to be.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but mostly forgettable
Review: Had I reviewed this film immediately after watching it, I may have given it four stars, because it was fast-paced and fun. And there's boatloads of talent in the charismatic cast, but much of it is unexploited. Outside the troubled Emma Thompson/Alan Rickman relationship, which was nuanced and credible, most of the cast (even the fabulous Liam Neeson) was wasted either on serious subplots that missed feeling authentic or attempts at humor that were severely overplayed. The inconsistency in the film's viepoint made it feel very disjointed; one minute we're seeing a broad, indeed ridiculous vignette about an over-the-hill rock star (his butchered cover of "Love is all Around" by the Troggs made me so nostalgic for the real version I really thought it should have been included somewhere in the soundtrack); the next minute devastated widower Liam Neeson (always a delight, even in this unworthy role) is trying to connect with his young stepson, and then that turns into a farce about the stepson's improbable infatuation with a classmate. Watching the "deleted scenes" portion of the special features provided some insight into how the film became such a mishmash, and should offer a cautionary lesson for other filmmakers.
Rating:
Summary: many levels
Review: I loved this movie when I saw it in the theater and couldn't wait for it to come out on DVD. Seeing it again, plus all the extras and deleted scenes on the DVD, made it even more of a favorite. There are so many levels of humor and sadness all throughout the movie, just like real life. Casting is terrific! The DVD quality is excellent.
Rating: 
Summary: Anyone remember "Love, American Style"?
Review: "Four Weddings and a Funeral" is great. "Notting Hill" is basically enjoyable. But this movie is basically terrible, though a few great performances and funny moments enliven it. It follows the format of some of the cheesiest romantic anthology shows of the 1970s like "Love American Style" and "The Love Boat," interweaving improbable, and therefore quite sappy, love stories together, in which the characters generally have only incidental or coincidental relationships with one another -- i.e. the final group of scenes at a children's Christmas pageant and at an airport gate, where all the characters happen to be together. The outcome of each little story is almost entirely predictable from the first scene or two in which the characters and situations are introduced. Probably this is true because they give each tale so little time, any detours into surprise would cause this bland souffle to collapse. The two stars are for the one truly excellent performance here, Emma Thompson's. She was ubiquitous for a few years, but she's pulled back, so it now feels like a rare pleasure to see her work in a domestic story like this. I also enjoyed the burned out rock star's story. If you happen to catch this on cable, those two pieces will give you pleasure. The rest will make you feel like you ate too much cotton candy.
Rating: 
Summary: Actually a very good movie.
Review: The premise of this movie is that despite all the violence and hate in the world, LOVE actually is everywhere you look. The movie proves this point with the telling of eight interconnected stories and an amazing cast that includes Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Hugh Grant, Billy Bob Thorton, and an incredible child actor, Thomas Sangster. The setting is London in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and the various tales are a skillful combination of sweetly uplifting and poignantly sad. It is a rare movie which succeeds in being heartwarming without being sappy, and in that respect, Love Actually thrives.
Rating:
Summary: Pleasant, lightweight entertainment.
Review: I did not have the opportunity to watch "Love Actually" in the theatre, but I read about it for months in the media and on internet message boards. It certainly did not live up to the standards of the classic "Four Weddings and a Funeral," but having bought the DVD, I know I will watch it again. The biggest problems I had with the movie were 1)too many storylines and 2)some storylines were handled much better than others. The porn movie storyline and the Brit-vacationing-in- America were the two weakest and IMO should have never made it to the screen, as they weren't amusing or touching. The PM storyline was not in the least believable, but Hugh Grant did a wonderful job with a minimum of Grantisms. I was probably one of the few who was not enchanted with the Liam Neeson & stepson storyline: I didn't think it was realistic that a little boy would be more upset about a little girl going back to America than with the death of his beloved mother. I also disliked the airport scene, where adults were encouraging this precocious child to dodge airline security. And just as an aside, I really have a pet peeve about movies that encourage pre-teens to display emotions that are more appropriate for older children or adults -- ugh! The best storylines IMO were the ones involving Laura Linney, Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson, and Colin Firth. I hated that the Laura Linney character gave up her chance at happiness to play handmaiden to her mentally ill brother -- it seemed to me that she could & should have had it all! The Rickman-Thompson storyline was the most realistic and therefore to me the most touching. At the end it seemed apparent to me that Ms Thompson's character was going to accomodate her husband's wandering eye in order to keep her family together -- old fashioned, perhaps, but not all that uncommon. Colin Firth's romance with the Portugese maid was touching and funny, especially the final proposal scene. But the honors IMO go to Bill Nigey, whose aging rock star kept the movie from being too sweet and cloying. His disgust with what he had become and the wasted years supporting his heroin addiction were handled masterfully.
Rating:
Summary: Can't get enough of this movie!
Review: I absolutely love this movie. I saw it twice in the theatre and several times on DVD already. Normally, I would get annoyed with so many different storylines because it can get confusing and you don't feel connected to the characters. But somehow this movie made me feel for each individual situation, whether it be feelings of happiness or of heartbreak. Not only is it a lovey dovey, feel good movie- it's also hilarious. I think it has enough romance for women and enough comedy for men. My husband and I both love it. I have nothing but good things to say.
Rating:
Summary: Good story, too sexed up
Review: The ending of the movie was wonderful, but I would have enjoyed this movie much more if it hadn't been so sexed up. The sex aspect did not contribute one tiny bit to the "love" focus of the movie, in fact, it highly distracted from it and cheapend it. Get real movie makers...start making movies we want to feel. The old standby that "sex sells" is getting old. This movie is just littered in bad taste.
Rating:
Summary: Fluffy, deep, interesting, cheesy, tacky -- but a good movie
Review: How's that? The title covers everything I felt when I saw this film. Yes, there are too many storylines. Yes, the "porn stand-ins in love" story was tacky (not to mention the Brit going to get laid in the USA). Yes, Richard Curtis doesn't allow us to get to know the characters enough. BUT I know I saw myself in at least one of those stories, and I'll bet most everyone else will, too. Perhaps Curtis didn't want us to get to know those characters too well, since it would allow us to separate ourselves a little too much from those we identified with. Using little more depth than merely sketching in some of the characters, we the viewers are able to recall ourselves in those similar situations. I found myself thinking more about the characters in the film long after it was over than I did when I was watching it for the first time. Now, I doubt Curtis intended to be too terribly "deep" with this film, but like an onion, there are a lot of layers to peel off if one chooses to look at it that way. I went to see "Love Actually" to see Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson as husband and wife. The two of them did such a superb job of it that the "ho-hummness" of their marriage was actually quite riveting. Theirs was without question the most interesting of all the stories -- and the most real. Their story alone makes "Love Actually" worth viewing. I don't think you'll regret seeing it at least once, and I believe you'll find yourself drawn to seeing it a few more times to unpeel those layers. Oh, and remember, onions sometimes make you cry....
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