Written and directed by Richard Curtis and produced by Duncan Kenworthy (the team behind NOTTING HILL and FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL) this zingy Brit-com weaves a vivid crazy... more
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Marathon of romantic comedies, and everybody wins. Having mastered the genre as the writer of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones's Diar...
Love Actually -
Such is the savvy and ingenuity of the team behindLove Actually, the accompanying
... more
soundtrack knows its target demographic and seizes it by the throat. Dido, Norah Jones and Gabrielle in addition to a latter-day makeover of the all-woman anthem "Jump" performed here by Girls Aloud, make this a shrewdly chosen body of great music. In addition to this, who can forget Billy Mack's hark back to the success ofFour Weddings and a Funeralwith his seasonal rendition of the Trogg's (and Wet Wet Wet's) "Christmas is all Around".Love Actuallyis great fun and will undoubtably be a hit at office parties across the land; the only drawback is the conspicuous absence of Robbie Williams. --Georgina Collins
Love Actually/Wimbledon
Love ActuallyWith no fewer than eight couples vying for our attention,Love Actuallyis like
... more
the London Marathon of romantic comedies, and everybody wins. Having mastered the genre as the writer ofFour Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill,andBridget Jones's Diary, it appears that first-time director Richard Curtis is just like his screenplays: he just wants to be loved, and he'll go to absurdly appealing lengths to win our affection. WithLove Actually, Curtis orchestrates a minor miracle of romantic choreography, guiding a brilliant cast of stars and newcomers as they careen toward love and holiday cheer in London, among them the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) who's smitten with his caterer (Martine McCutcheon); a widower (Liam Neeson) whose young son nurses the ultimate schoolboy crush; a writer (Colin Firth) who falls for his Portuguese housekeeper; a devoted wife and mother (Emma Thompson) coping with her potentially unfaithful husband (Alan Rickman); and a lovelorn American (Laura Linney) who's desperately attracted to a colleague. There's more--too much more--as Curtis wraps his Christmas gift with enough happy endings to sweeten a dozen other movies. That he pulls it off so entertainingly is undeniably impressive; that he does it so shamelessly suggests that his writing fares better with other, less ingratiating directors. --Jeff ShannonWimbledonProfessional tennis makes an unlikely but surprisingly effective backdrop for a lively romantic comedy inWimbledon. Peter Cort (Paul Bettany,Master and Commander), once ranked 11th in the world, has slipped to 119th and is heading into his last Wimbledon tournament when he runs into Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst,The Virgin Suicides, Spider-Man), a rising star. The two strike up a whirlwind romance that gives his game new life--but she insists it's going to be nothing but a passing fling. Their affair heats up and Cort finds himself steadily rising through the competition while Lizzie stumbles... Of course, the ending is never really in doubt--but Bettany is a unique cinematic presence, pale and lithe, doubtful of life but also hungry for it. Thanks to him and the ever-engaging Dunst,Wimbledonis funnier, more suspenseful, and more touching that anyone might expect, turning a conventional flick into a genuine charmer. --Bret Fetzer
Wimbledon/Love Actually
WimbledonProfessional tennis makes an unlikely but surprisingly effective backdrop for a
... more
lively romantic comedy in Wimbledon. Peter Cort (Paul Bettany,Master and Commander), once ranked 11th in the world, has slipped to 119th and is heading into his last Wimbledon tournament when he runs into Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst,The Virgin Suicides, Spider-Man), a rising star. The two strike up a whirlwind romance that gives his game new life--but she insists it's going to be nothing but a passing fling. Their affair heats up and Cort finds himself steadily rising through the competition while Lizzie stumbles... Of course, the ending is never really in doubt--but Bettany is a unique cinematic presence, pale and lithe, doubtful of life but also hungry for it. Thanks to him and the ever-engaging Dunst,Wimbledonis funnier, more suspenseful, and more touching that anyone might expect, turning a conventional flick into a genuine charmer. --Bret FetzerLove ActuallyWith no fewer than eight couples vying for our attention,Love Actuallyis like the London Marathon of romantic comedies, and everybody wins. Having mastered the genre as the writer ofFour Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill,andBridget Jones's Diary,it appears that first-time director Richard Curtis is just like his screenplays: he just wants to be loved, and he'll go to absurdly appealing lengths to win our affection. WithLove Actually, Curtis orchestrates a minor miracle of romantic choreography, guiding a brilliant cast of stars and newcomers as they careen toward love and holiday cheer in London, among them the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) who's smitten with his caterer (Martine McCutcheon); a widower (Liam Neeson) whose young son nurses the ultimate schoolboy crush; a writer (Colin Firth) who falls for his Portuguese housekeeper; a devoted wife and mother (Emma Thompson) coping with her potentially unfaithful husband (Alan Rickman); and a lovelorn American (Laura Linney) who's desperately attracted to a colleague. There's more--too much more--as Curtis wraps his Christmas gift with enough happy endings to sweeten a dozen other movies. That he pulls it off so entertainingly is undeniably impressive; that he does it so shamelessly suggests that his writing fares better with other, less ingratiating directors. --Jeff Shannon
Love Actually - Various
Such is the savvy and ingenuity of the team behind Love Actually, the accompanying
... more
soundtrack knows its target demographic and seizes it by the throat. Dido, Norah Jones and Gabrielle in addition to a latter-day makeover of the all-woman anthem "Jump" performed here by Girls Aloud, make this a shrewdly chosen body of great music. In addition to this, who can forget Billy Mack's hark back to the success of Four Weddings and a Funeral with his seasonal rendition of the Trogg's (and Wet Wet Wet's) "Christmas is all Around". Love Actually is great fun and will undoubtably be a hit at office parties across the land; the only drawback is the conspicuous absence of Robbie Williams. --Georgina Collins
Advantages: tightly scripted, neatly constructed love story with some stunning performances Disadvantages: a little overlong and chummy, some unnecessary additions
...and Mark, who knows unrequited love when he feels it. Dropped in as added extras are Pete and Juliet, the newlyweds; Colin, who’s on a mission to go to America, where the girls he’s sure will fancy him will be, and John, who may be able to simulate sex with a girl, but has no idea how to ask her out.
Clear enough?!
There is, it has to be said, a large and complex assortment of characters, with only one addition I thought to be extraneous and irritating, ... ...the single greatest gesture of love and the breaking of boundaries is made by a child. That child is Sam, the stepson of Daniel, and it is between the two of them that the heartbreaking truths of love, often disguised as truisms, are brought to the fore. Sometimes they are stated blankly to each other, sometimes they are more subtle and beautiful, as when Sam slips from “Daniel” to “Dad”, an unremarked change, but one that resonates with the tone ...
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Advantages: Bill Nighy - The film ended Disadvantages: It had a beginning and a middle
...would probably like to watch Love Actually - not THAT much different to his preferred choice really!
*Ahem*
READY? POPCORN? DIET COKE? HUFFY BEAU? THEN WE SHALL BEGIN
The beginning of the film opened up on an airport scene with Hugh *bumbling Englishman* Grant doing a voice over which, granted I found quite schmaltzy at first but warmed to toward the end. The actual film follows ten couples ... ...
Do I recommend Love Actually? If, like me you can get dirt cheap rental or you can borrow it then it is worth seeing for Bill Nighy and Bill Nighy only. If you loved Four Weddings and a Funeral or Notting Hill or even Bridget Jones Diary then, again, yes you will probably love this film.
For me, Four Weddings was good at the time but seriously over hyped. It seems that British film makers have latched on to the Four Weddings ...
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Love Actually, the latest film from Richard Curtis, sounded to me like a thoroughly cheesy and slushy affair. However, after several mates had seen it and all had said it touched them in some way that was relevant to their own lives, I agreed to join a party from work at the pictures. Some said it was hilariously funny, some that it made them cry, others that it was just a good old enjoyable feelgood flick. Hence I didn’t really know what to expect, ... ...things.
Love Actually is made up of several stories, concerning several couples, most of whom are in some way intertwined, be it by blood, romantic love, work, marriage, friendship, obligation, or just good old sex.
We have the newly elected Prime Minister and the down-to-earth Downing Street tea girl who sets his heart racing. We have the bereaved stepfather, Daniel, who finds himself responsible for her 10 year old son, and we have Karen, the ...
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Advantages: Witty dialogue, entertaining scenes, and I used to live round the corner from one location Disadvantages: Too many stories, badly linked - it all turned into a Curtis melting pot
...up to Christmas which concern love of some description – whether it is unrequited, romantic, rejected etc. As would be expected with a respected screenwriter such as Richard Curtis, the story is given some sort of coherency by each of the characters being connected to another in a parallel story. For instance Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofer) is getting married to Juliet (Keira Nightly). At their wedding is Sarah (Laura Linney) who is told by her boss, Harry ... ...(Hugh Grant), who falls in love with the tea-lady (Martine McCutcheon) when he enters Downing Street for the first time. And then… well, to be honest, it all got very confusing. Other stories including Colin Firth, Bill Nighy and Kris Marshall also slot in – but in all honesty I didn’t actually care how or why they did.
The major problem with this film is that trying to combine this many individual stories in this way takes a lot of skill. Robert ...
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08.03.2004
Love It Actually Review ofLove Actually (Christmas Edition)by
Tricia24
Advantages: Funny, heartwarming, brillantly written and a fantastic cast who give excellent performances. Disadvantages: There are so many different stories you wish some were explored in more depth
...weekend I went to see LOVE ACTUALLY and I loved it so much I felt I had to do a review on it. Initially I wasn’t sure I would enjoy the film having heard and read very mixed reviews about it. But I eventually decided to give it a go because as a rule I love comedies and Hugh Grant in general. So myself, my mother and my aunty booked our tickets at High Street Kensington and settled down (after a great deal of fuss about whose seats were whose) ... ...story revolves around the complicated love lives of several couples, who are all loosely connected, in the run up to Christmas. The theme is of course love and the film commences with scenes of loved ones greeting each other at arrivals in an airport with Hugh Grant’s voice announcing, “love is actually all around…”. This in turn leads to washed out singer Billy Mack recording his dire version of “Love Is All Around” ...
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Actor(s): Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, Martine McCutcheon, Bill Nighy, Rowan Atkinson, Martin Freeman, Andrew Lincoln, Billy Bob Thornton, Heike Makatsch, Joanna Page, Lucia Moniz, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Director(s): Richard Curtis
Genre: Comedy - Romantic
Classification: 15 years and over
Production Year: 2003
Running Time: 2 hours 9 minutes
Video Category: Feature Film
Plot: Set in the weeks leading up to Christmas, this is the story of a group of people who find themselves surrounded by love... There's the new Prime Minister who falls for his personal assistant, the Prime Minister's sister Karan who realises that her husband is attracted to his secretary. Author Jamie who flees England to escape his unfaithful girlfriend and then falls for his housekeeper. Movie stand-ins, John and Judy, who become attracted to each other on the film set. Recently widowed Daniel who helps his stepson who is smitten with one of his class-mates and Billy Mack, an ageing rock star who discovers that love can be found in the most unlikely of places...
Release details
DVD Region: Region 2 (Europe)
Studio(s): UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK; UNIVERSAL MUSIC OPERATIONS
Release date: 08/11/2004
No of Discs: 1
Catalogue No: 823 030 4
Barcode: 5050582303049
Executive Producer: Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan
Producer: Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan, Duncan Kenworthy
Languages
Main Language: English
Technical information
Special Features: Commentary - Richard Curtis - Writer, Director, Deleted Scenes - With Introduction from Richard Curtis (with optional subtitles), Music Highlights (with optional subtitles), Music Video: CHRISTMAS IS ALL AROUND, Featurette - 1. THE STORYTELLERS (with optional subtitles), Trailers
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 English
DVD Description
Written and directed by Richard Curtis and produced by Duncan Kenworthy (the team behind NOTTING HILL and FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL) this zingy Brit-com weaves a vivid crazy quilt of interlocking or unrelated vignettes all dealing with the subject of love over the Christmas holidays in London. The big name cast includes Hugh Grant as a prime minister who falls for a member of staff, Liam Neeson as a widower counseling his son in the ways of romance, Laura Linney as a shy woman working up the nerve to ask out a colleague, Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman as a couple faced with infidelity, and Colin Firth as a writer who falls for his Portuguese maid. Additionally, a pair of porn film stand-ins bond on the set, an artist fantasises about his friend's wife; and perhaps funniest of all, an ageing rock star (Bill Nighy) tries to make his comeback with a Christmas novelty song. The likes of Billy Bob Thornton, Rowan Atkinson and Denise Richards turn up in cameos, helping make this film a throwback to those all-star, multi-plotted comedies of the 1960s and '70s, such as IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD (1963), NASHVILLE (1975), and CALIFORNIA SUITE (1978). With Curtis' comedic credentials and the star wattage of pros like Grant, Neeson and Thompson, LOVE, ACTUALLY is a laugh-packed affair, with more than a few tears to be shed along the way, and a startling amount of bawdy raunchiness.
Award information
BAFTA: Best Supporting Actor 2003 (Bill Nighy)
Professional reviews
Review: "...The perfect feel good film..." (Daily Mirror, )
"...Don't even consider missing out on the blast of pure cinema joy..." (Heat, )
"...You'll love it... Absolutely unmissable..." (Jonathan Ross, )
"...100% unmissable..." (News of the World, )
"...The best Brit-flick ever, 10 out of 10..." (The Sun, )
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Listed on Ciao since : 17/11/2003
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