Review: Love Actually

Rated R | 135 mins

Love Actually represents why we go to the movies. It’s a joyous ride, chocked full of great dialogue and heartwarming stories, a perfectly enjoyable piece of fluff. Only adjectives can describe the pleasure I experienced when watching it, for I have no clue why I did. I hate romantic comedies. I hate Holiday-themed movies. I hate Hugh Grant. And I hate Hollywood romaces. Love Actually is so damn good, though—it’s hard to resist, no matter what your bias is. This is the kind of flick that gets better every time you think about it, the disposable entertainment that you cannot forget. What could be better?

There may be too many things going on in Love Actually, but it has an incredible sense of balance. Each story and each character is focused on just enough, and the running length is adequate. While screenwriter-turned-director Richard Curtis has a noticeably tough time behind the camera, his work is very tolerable. Since the quality of filmmaking of Love Actually is the least of the audience’s worries, it doesn’t affect the impression that it makes on us.

I wouldn’t fret to call this film a “chick flick,” but males and females will find it equally enjoyable. There are many cheesy love stories here indeed, and they’ll surely please female audiences. But the comedy, which is thankfully not too sappy, has a great amount of cleverness, which makes this flick all the more enjoyable for everyone. The delivery is flawless, too. Even though it’s imperfect, I couldn’t ask anything more of Love Actually.

Economically, the making of this movie was been brilliant. All of the members of the cast have about ten minutes of screen-time each. They clearly didn’t have to spend much time acting in it, but the studio can truthfully bill all of them, as if they were leading roles. The big names, themselves, will draw in crowds. Half of the ticket buyers will be seeing Love Actually for its ensemble. However, whatever the reason may be, everyone who sees it will not be disappointed. When it was all over, the old granny sitting behind me raved that it was “a delicious movie.” I couldn’t agree more.