Love Actually (2003)

Love Actually is a warm, bittersweet ensemble romantic comedy set in London during the five frantic weeks before Christmas. The film follows a dozen-plus characters in loosely interwoven vignettes — from the newly elected, smitten Prime Minister to a recently widowed father, a betrayed writer hiding in rural France, a lovelorn office worker, a washed-up rock star staging a cheeky comeback, and several couples navigating jealousy, temptation, mourning, and secret longing. Each story is small and human, but together they form a lively portrait of love in its many guises. Watching the movie you’ll be taken on an emotional rollercoaster: plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and clever comic touches sit alongside genuinely touching, and at times painful, scenes of loss, unrequited desire, reconciliation and hope. The tone shifts fluidly between comic satire (Billy Mack’s irreverent holiday single), awkward and tender romance (the Prime Minister’s crush on his staffer), quiet grief and growth (a widower and his stepson), and tender multicultural connection (a writer and his Portuguese housekeeper who don’t share a language). The festive London backdrop, seasonal music and a lively ensemble cast give the film a cozy, holiday feel even when the stories explore complicated emotions. Viewers can expect an affectionate, sometimes messy celebration of love — flawed, inconvenient, comic and redemptive — that builds to an uplifting, emotional montage finale at Heathrow. It’s the sort of film that makes you laugh, makes you wince, and often makes you catch your breath, leaving you with a hopeful, slightly sentimental sense that love is messy but worth pursuing.

Actors: Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Liam Neeson

Director: Richard Curtis

Runtime: 135 min

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance

6.8 /10 55 /100 7.6 /10 6.6 /10