Loathed Actually (Love Actually (DVD))

Member Name: utero

Product:	Love Actually (DVD)
Date:	23/05/04 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A few amusing moments

Disadvantages: Seen it all before, The 9/11 line, Tired Formula

I?m sorry but I have to say that Love Actually just sums up a lot about what is wrong with British films. There was a brief moment when we had films that were challenging, dark, offbeat and interesting. But then we have films like Love Actually and Four Wedding and a Funeral. It is no surprise that Richard Curtis has had a hand in both. It?s just a shame that it?s pretty much the same thing every time.

Love Actually is a film about love, different plot?s melt together to make a celebration of everything wonderful in life and love. Naturally everything in this world is incredibly easy and not one bit challenging. Here you have people finding love with no stumbling blocks, you also have Curtis piling on the obstacles in this sugary affair. The film opens with video footage of normal people and then Hugh Grant adds a voiceover. For a moment I thought I was watching Notting Hill and had to check I had the right DVD. Then Curtis pulls something out which is probably one of the most sickening lines I?ve heard in a long time. It makes reference to 9/11 and how the victims on the planes didn?t send words of hate as their final messages, they were words of love. Instantly Curtis has pulled on people heartstrings with a cheap line.

The problem I have with this kind of film is that it?s all too familiar. You have a snapshot of London life where everyone seems to have great places to live, great lives, great jobs etc but all of it doesn?t ring true with the real world. Curtis has too much going on in this film for it to really work. Storylines and characters get forgotten in trying to make everything work. You have Laura Linney?s character getting no real resolution. Colin Firth?s character asks a woman to marry him even though they barely know each other. You also have Alan Rickman having an affair that gets swept aside in the grand scheme of things. For a comedy, having a running time of over two hours is a real sin and there?s not enough to hold the attenti
on. Sure there is a nice soundtrack and a warm glow to the film but I wanted something different. This is Notting Hill without fewer laughs and more characters.

The only highlight for me Martine McCutcheon as a common tea lady in Downing Street. Her character was very normal and worked well. The appearance of the foxy Elisha Cuthbert also made things pleasing on the eye for five minutes but then she and her foxy friends disappear for the rest of the film. Many people seem to like Bill Nighy?s washed up rock star and yes he has some good moments but again it?s been done before.

Had Curtis trimmed down the film, removed some of the storylines and actually gave the film some linear plot then this could have been a lot better. Sadly if it works then there?s no point in fixing it as this was a hit at Christmas time because it?s the kind of British film that pulls people out of the house and into the cinema.

Unfortunately I like films that challenge or at least make an attempt to give me something different on a familiar formula. All in all Love Actually is Average Actually.

Summary: