Love Actually

“Love Actually” was released in 2003.  It stars Colin Firth, Martin Freeman, Hugh Grant, Keira Knightly, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, and Emma Thompson

To read my review click here.   I want to warn you this blog entry contains spoilers.

This movie follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.

Rather than just giving you a rundown of what happens in the movie, I’m going to tell you why I love it so much.

I adore Love Actually because as many times as I’ve seen it, I still feel all the feels.  They have pretty much every form of love represented.  There’s the loss of a wife, loss of a mother, a stepfather and stepson trying to develop a relationship without the mom there, marriage, best friend in love with his friend’s new wife, a couple with children dealing with the husband’s attentions to a female coworker, a man falling for a coworker, a sister caring for her mentally ill brother while harboring a crush on a coworker, a single guy who can’t find love so he goes to America where he believes women will love him for is accent, a vapid musician who is just a mystery, and an author falling for his new housekeeper.  Please forgive me if I missed any.

This plethora of relationships allows the viewer to relate to at least one of them.  The high caliber of actors means it’s so well done and you can feel what they’re feeling.  It also somehow manages to tell the stories of all these characters without making me feel like I’m missing anything while also intertwining many of the stories.

The script is also amazing.  The wording used for the characters really fits their personalities and tells us more about them.  And who can forget the very classic scene where the guy stands in the doorway holding up poster boards with messages on them.

The movie has what I like to call an emotional aftertaste.  The feelings stick with you for a while.  That’s how powerful it is.  It’s not so much about Christmas as part of the Christmas season.  That’s okay because what is Christmas about if not love.

I watch it every year.  It really is something special.  If you haven’t seen it I hope you give it a try.  If you have, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie.  Happy Viewing!