Love Actually (2003)

For years, I actively disliked this film. It took many viewings to begin to warm towards it in any way whatsoever. At the time of its release, my group of friends included a few people whose knowledge of film was weak to say the least, and the fact that they all loved Love Actually was probably a narrow-minded reason for disliking the film so much. So as the years have gone by, my iron-fisted approach to Richard Curtis’ Christmas Rom-com has softened dramatically, and the main reason for that is the acceptance that although Love Actually might be critically swept into a bin, it's still almost universally loved. Let’s not get carried away, it’s a far cry from Curtis at his pinnacle of Four Weddings And A Funeral (1994) or Notting Hill (1999), but its interlocking and interweaving stories at least give the illusion of something cohesive, and easily sweep in those who simply want 'easy watching'. Some of the stories are dramatically lifted by fantastic acting performances; Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman and Liam Neeson are particular highlights, although Neeson's son is unbearably annoying- he's eight years old and he's depressed, not because his Mum's just died, but because he's 'in love' with a girl from school. Casting Hugh Grant as the prime minister is a masterstroke, it’s similarly brilliant casting to his role in Paddington 2 (2017). But, Love Actually is so far from being a good film that you wonder whether everyone involved knew it from Day One, and simply acted out an exercise in how to prove the general public's astonishing ability to lap up this sort of tosh if you throw the right amount of money at the right people, and top it off with some 'uplifting' stories that are so ludicrous you'd need to sink a bottle of spirits to be touched by them. But, that's probably the point. The script is nowhere near sharp enough to sit alongside Curtis’ best, but what he has produced is another enduring romantic comedy that might well be unworthy of lining your cat's litter box, but it will be watched every Christmas by millions for many years to come, and if you give the great unwashed the benefit of the doubt, that's almost impressive enough. 5.1/10