Part of Holiday Classics
Christmas is coming, and this set-in-London rom-com features no less than 10 intertwining love stories, bookended by opening and closing scenes at Heathrow Airport. With a cast that includes a roster of both household names and up-and-comers (to wit, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, January Jones, Bill Nighy, Rowan Atkinson, and a quick cameo from Billy Bob Thornton as the visiting American president), LOVE ACTUALLY has legions of devoted fans and probably just as many derisive critics. As Mother Jones magazine put it: “Once upon a time a bunch of Brits got together to make a little film that Americans would bicker about for more than a decade.”
“LOVE ACTUALLY is a belly-flop into the sea of romantic comedy…. The movie's only flaw is also a virtue: It's jammed with characters, stories, warmth and laughs, until at times [director Richard] Curtis seems to be working from a checklist of obligatory movie love situations and doesn't want to leave anything out. At 129 minutes, it feels a little like a gourmet meal that turns into a hot-dog eating contest.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (Nov 7, 2003)
“At times soppy, sentimental and shamelessly romantic, at other moments bursting with clever barbs — and now and then zooming in on something telling and poignant — LOVE ACTUALLY is just about impossible to dislike.” —Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
“It’s not so much the individual storylines that grab you, but [director Richard] Curtis’ unrelenting optimism. In the end, it’s nice to know that love, actually, does conquer all.” —Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle