Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Latest
    • Thank You
    • 4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)
    • 3999. The Pianist (2002)
    • 3998. Philadelphia (1993)
    • 3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
    • 3996. The Green Mile (1999)
    • 3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
    • 3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Home
    • Blog
      • All Posts
      • Best Of The Year
        • Best Of 2015
        • Best Of 2016
        • Best Of 2017
        • Best Of 2018
        • Best Of 2019
        • Best Of 2020
        • Best Of 2021
        • Best Of 2022
      • The Decade In Review
      • Box Office Analysis
      • James Bond
      • Oscars
      • RANKED
      • Star Wars
      • The Big Questions
      • Top 10
      • World Cinema
    • Ratings
      • Top 250
      • Top 100 Foreign Films
      • Bottom 50
      • 0 – 1.9
      • 2 – 3.9
      • 4 – 5.9
      • 6 – 7.9
      • 8 – 10
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Anthology
      • Animation
      • Christmas
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
      • Film-Noir
      • History
      • Horror
      • Kids’
      • Musical
      • Psychological
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Short
      • Silent
      • Sport
      • Superhero
      • Survival
      • Thriller
      • Western
    • Release Year
      • 2020s
      • 2010s
      • 2000s
      • 1990s
      • 1980s
      • 1970s
      • 1960s
      • 1950s
      • 1940s
      • 1930s
      • 1920s
    • Country
      • Afghanistan
      • Argentina
      • Australia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Brazil
      • Cambodia
      • Canada
      • Chile
      • China
      • Colombia
      • Costa Rica
      • Czechoslovakia
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • East Timor
      • Faroe Islands
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Georgia
      • Greece
      • Hong Kong
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Ireland
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Latvia
      • Lebanon
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Mexico
      • New Zealand
      • Nigeria
      • North Korea
      • Norway
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Philippines
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Russia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • South Africa
      • Soviet Union
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Uganda
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • Uruguay
      • Vietnam
      • Zambia
    • About
    The Mad Movie Man
    You are at:Home»Review»1190. Love Actually (2003)

    1190. Love Actually (2003)

    0
    By The Mad Movie Man on December 21, 2015 130-139 mins, 2003, 6 - 7.9, Christmas, Comedy, Dec 15, Drama, Movies Of 2015, Review, Romance, United Kingdom
    7.0 Annoyingly, it's not unbearable
    • Acting 7.3
    • Directing 7.0
    • Story 6.6
    • User Ratings (0 Votes) 0

    Starring: Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley

    Director: Richard Curtis

    Running Time: 135 mins


    Love Actually is a British film about the lives of various couples in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and how the festive season can bring even the most opposite of people together.

    No matter how hard I tried to dislike this film, with all of its cheese and ridiculous romance, I just couldn’t escape its wonderful charm. Sure, it’s the ultimate romantic comedy cliché, beyond an ironic level, but what it does have is a host of great performances and a really pleasant atmosphere that come together to make a film that’s just impossible not to love, even if I tried to hate it with all my might.

    Of course, I didn’t go into this film wanting it to be bad, I would never do that, but as soon as I saw (within five seconds) that it was the epitome of cheesy romance movies, I went into default mode and thought it would be two and a half hours of living hell.

    What I actually got, however, was a sweet, pleasant and undeniably charming romantic comedy, that’s not only got a cosy feeling to it, but is genuinely funny, well-acted, and manages to get through its excessive runtime very easily. Somehow, this just didn’t feel like it was over two hours long.

    With regards to the writing, the comedy is pretty great. It has a great combination of silly slapstick and typically sarcastic British humour, and proves that Richard Curtis doesn’t always churn out rom-coms with more cheese than France in them.

    I was laughing a lot during Love Actually, and that really impressed me, but what I was even more impressed by was the performances. The cast is ridiculously big, and features a massive ensemble of famous people from all corners of the showbiz world, but oddly, every single one of them puts in a great show to give a convincing and heartwarming performance to make this insanely cheesy story fully watchable.

    However, it’s not all perfect in this film. There are some glaring issues that did make watching this sometimes a bit of a chore. Generally, as I said, it goes by very quickly, and is so pleasant to watch, but there are moments, particularly in the final act, when the romance takes centre stage, and it just gets silly, because the story is so preposterous that it’s almost laughable (again, beyond an ironic level).

    The other big problem with this film comes as a result of the humongous cast. Yes, the actors are all great, but this film has upwards of fifteen main characters, so even with such a long runtime, there just isn’t time to give them all the story they deserve. There are so many points in this film where we return to a story that we touched on over half an hour ago, and by then, I had often forgotten that that story was even in the movie, proving to me that I didn’t actually care about what was happening despite the niceness of it all.

    Overall, however, I had a surprisingly good time watching Love Actually. It’s ridiculously clichéd, and the plot is painfully convoluted, but it has such a wonderful charm to it that I just couldn’t find any way to dislike it. It’s not a particularly impressive film, but it’s one that I really enjoyed watching, and that’s why it gets a 7.0 from me.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    The Mad Movie Man, AKA Anthony Cullen, writes articles and reviews about movies and the world of cinema. From January 1st, 2013 to December 31st, 2022, he watched and reviewed a movie every day. This is the blog dedicated to the project: www.madmovieman.com

    Related Posts

    8.2

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    Follow Me Online!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Tumblr
    New Releases
    8.2
    December 25, 2022

    3994. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

    5.6
    December 10, 2022

    3969. Falling For Christmas (2022)

    6.9
    December 4, 2022

    3956. The People We Hate At The Wedding (2022)

    5.4
    December 3, 2022

    3954. Disenchanted (2022)

    7.4
    December 3, 2022

    3953. Meet Cute (2022)

    7.6
    November 23, 2022

    3934. Do Revenge (2022)

    7.0
    November 18, 2022

    3929. The Wonder (2022)

    6.7
    November 13, 2022

    3924. See How They Run (2022)

    Recommended Movies
    8.5
    Review
    December 13, 20210

    3578. Spider-Man (2002)

    8.1
    Review
    January 11, 20210

    3214. The Price Of Gold (2014)

    8.7
    Review
    November 26, 20140

    763. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014)

    8.2
    Review
    June 16, 20200

    2989. 13th (2016)

    8.6
    Review
    February 1, 20130

    38. Horrible Bosses (2011)

    Popular Posts
    December 31, 2022

    Thank You

    8.2
    December 31, 2022

    4000. Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

    7.8
    December 30, 2022

    3999. The Pianist (2002)

    8.2
    December 29, 2022

    3998. Philadelphia (1993)

    7.5
    December 28, 2022

    3997. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

    9.1
    December 27, 2022

    3996. The Green Mile (1999)

    7.6
    December 26, 2022

    3995. Doctor Zhivago (1965)

    © 2023 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.