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Review: Fall in love with 'Love Actually'
« on: Nov 7th, 2003, 9:04pm » |
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Review: Fall in love with 'Love Actually'
Great cast anchors film
By Jocelyn Noveck
Associated Press
Friday, November 7, 2003 Posted: 12:02 PM EST (1702 GMT)
(AP) -- There are two things you must know up front about the new British comedy "Love Actually."
It's unabashedly sentimental, premised on the relentlessly upbeat message that love is everywhere.
And it's about Christmas.
You might be tempted to roll your eyes. But try not to, because then you'd have to take them off the screen. Keep them open, and chances are that at the end of this chaotic, somewhat manipulative but highly entertaining film you'll be wearing a big, silly grin on your face.
It's hard to say why this movie doesn't suffocate with its sweetness. Perhaps because writer Richard Curtis, who also penned such successful romantic comedies as "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Notting Hill" and "Bridget Jones's Diary," has a knack for turning to humor just split seconds before a scene becomes unbearably corny.
Or perhaps it's the terrific cast he's assembled for his directorial debut, including Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Billy Bob Thornton and of course, that perennial of British romantic comedy, Hugh Grant -- appearing here as no less than the prime minister of Britain.
Aspects of togetherness
The film stakes out its ground in the first moments, with real scenes of happy reunions at the Heathrow arrivals terminal. Love, Grant declares in a voiceover, really is all around.
The evidence follows: We track 20 or so loosely interconnected Londoners in various stages of life and love -- just before Christmas, naturally.
There's the new prime minister, who on his first day in office becomes besotted with a young aide (the British TV and pop star Martine McCutcheon) who serves him tea and can't seem to control her salty language ...
There's the comfortably married couple (Rickman and Thompson) who are getting just a bit too comfortable, as the wife learns when her husband becomes dangerously infatuated with a lusty employee ...
There's the brooding widower (Neeson) caring for his 10-year-old stepson (the adorably doe-eyed Thomas Sangster) who is desperately, agonizingly in love with the coolest girl in school ...
There's the mystery-novel writer (Firth) who heads to the south of France to recover from a broken heart and falls for his Portuguese cleaning woman ...
There's the sex-starved sandwich delivery guy who spends all his money on a ticket to Wisconsin, convinced that he'll have a hot girlfriend within minutes ...
Honest and true
And so on. But the best story is that of Billy Mack, the aging rock star who is cynically reissuing his old hit in time for Christmas, with the word "Christmas" substituted for "love." Mack, in a deliciously funny and dirty portrayal by Bill Nighy, hits the airwaves to promote his record but can't stop himself from being brutally honest. Asked to send a message to his young fans, he obliges: "Kids, don't buy drugs. (Beat.) Become a pop star, and they'll give you them for free!"
Apart from Nighy, the best work comes from Thompson, who with a mere glance can add depth and meaning to a throwaway line. It's truly excruciating to watch her slowly realize that her husband's attentions are shifting to his younger and prettier colleague.
As for Grant, it may be farfetched to imagine him as prime minister, but that's nothing compared to the leap it takes to accept Billy Bob Thornton as the U.S. president. It's fun to watch the two square off at a joint news conference, moments after the skirt-chasing president (yes, he has a southern accent) has made crass advances on the PM's chosen woman.
Yes, you may end up feeling manipulated when you find yourself chuckling over Grant's prime minister boogieing through the halls of 10 Downing St. to the Pointer Sisters' "Jump (For My Love)," or sense a tear forming as the love-triumphs-over-all ending reaches its poignant climax -- in an airport, of course.
But that seems besides the point. There are far worse things that being pleasantly manipulated for two hours. Especially around Christmas.
"Love Actually," a Universal Pictures release, is rated R for sexuality, nudity and language.
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