Love Actually is a staple of British Christmas time. The ensemble cast features the biggest stars of the time, including Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Kiera Knightley, and Colin Firth, just to name a few, and not a single performance lets you down.
The film follows the six weeks before Christmas through the lens of the characters of ten separate stories, which end up interlinking in fun and fabulous ways as the plot progresses. As its title suggests, the focus is love, and how this is expressed in different ways, with Christmas in London as its backdrop.
It is impossible not to love this Richard Curtis classic. There are endless iconic moments that have defined British pop culture, from Emma Thompson’s crying set to Joni Mitchell, to Andrew Lincoln at Kiera Knightley’s door with a boombox, placards and a dream.
Everything about this film works – the comedy, the romance, the tug-at-your-heartstrings moments, and the way they are blended so masterfully together. Maybe some elements haven’t aged the greatest, but it can certainly be forgiven when the rest of the movie still holds up as a warm and enjoyable Christmas staple. My favourite underrated moment is Hugh Grant as the prime minister performing ‘Good King Wenceslas’ with his security guard to a group of children convinced he’s a carol singer. It’s absurd moments like that that really make the movie what it is.
The heart of the movie is that “love actually is, all around”. This is introduced in the opening monologue of the film, set to the faces of people greeting each other at the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. It’s the perfect opening to a movie that proves love is everywhere, whether it is platonic, romantic, familial, unrequited or unexpected. In a world where it is easy to feel isolated and pessimistic by messages on the news, movies like this remind you what life is about, or can just provide you with a good laugh, if that’s all you need.
I am sure this is a Christmas classic in many households, as it certainly is in mine. The DVD has been used so many times it struggles to play the full film anymore, but we have seen it enough times to fill in the gaps. If, somehow, you have never watched Love Actually, get cosy and put it on to get yourself in the Christmas spirit – I am sure you won’t regret it.
5/5
Image Credits – The Movie DB
