You have to be wary of movies such as Love Actually. Upbeat romantic comedies like this tend to be simplistic, contrived and emotionally manipulative. But every once in a while, one shines through as genuine and—surprise!—actually romantic and funny. Many of those gems have come from writer Richard Curtis, who penned the screenplays for Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones's Diary, and who makes his directorial debut with Love Actually.
Billed as "the ultimate romantic comedy," Love Actually is a Robert Altman film on happy pills, a sprawling ensemble tale that's a good nine or 10 rom-coms in one. In London in the weeks leading up to Christmas, a cross-section of people experience the ups and downs of romance.
The country's new prime minister (Hugh Grant) falls for his secretary (Martine McCutcheon); a widower (Liam Neeson) guides his young stepson through his first crush; a writer (Colin Firth) falls in love with his Portuguese housekeeper, despite the language barrier; a shy American (Laura Linney) finally requites her love for a coworker; an older couple (Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson) deal with temptation; and a newlywed (Keira Knightley) discovers her husband's best friend is obsessed with her. Tying it all together is aging classic rocker Billy Mack (Bill Nighy), whose novelty Christmas single plays throughout the film as it climbs the chart, despite being utter crap (as Billy is happy to advertise).
That's not even all, and Curtis' film, even at more than two hours, is a little like an over-stuffed Christmas turkey. But aside from a couple of throwaway plot threads (two movie extras who meet under unusually intimate circumstances and a loser who heads to America to find love), each segment builds to a satisfying conclusion, and Curtis manages to sketch believable and sympathetic characters from his various snippets. The cast of British all-stars is superb, especially Nighy, who's wonderfully hilarious as a Keith Richards-style rocker who absolutely doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. It's a little hard to buy Hugh Grant as the prime minister of anything, let alone a major power, but he turns on his foppish charm and delivers his standard loveable rom-com turn.
Neeson and Linney offer the most pathos, as the other stories mainly coast by on whimsy. But it's winning, clever whimsy, and Curtis is a deft wordsmith who handles his expansive cast well. Romantic comedies never change the world; the best simply put a genuine smile on your face. In that sense, Love Actually is a perfect success.