Love Actually (2003)

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

Director:

Richard Curtis

Writer:

Richard Curtis

Stars:

Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 10 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Nighy	...	Billy Mack
Gregor Fisher	...	Joe
Rory MacGregor	...	Engineer
Colin Firth	...	Jamie
Sienna Guillory	...	Jamie's Girlfriend
Liam Neeson	...	Daniel
Emma Thompson	...	Karen
Lulu Popplewell	...	Daisy - Her Daughter
Kris Marshall	...	Colin Frissell
Heike Makatsch	...	Mia
Martin Freeman	...	John
Joanna Page	...	Just Judy
Chiwetel Ejiofor	...	Peter
Andrew Lincoln	...	Mark
Keira Knightley	...	Juliet

Storyline

The characters are falling in love, falling out of love, some are with right people, some are with the wrong people, some are looking to have an affair, some are in the period of mourning; a capsule summary of reality. Love begins and love ends. They flirt a lot. They are all flirting with love. At all ages and social levels, love is the theme. Romantic love and brotherly love is the hotchpotch through out the movie. Most of the movie is filmed in London, during Christmas and the characters all ended up at Heathrow airport a very uplifting note.

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Plot Keywords:

love | christmas | friend | travel | minister | 

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Taglines:

It's All About Love... Actually.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality, nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Universal [us]

Country:

UK USA France

Language:

English Portuguese French

Release Date:

14 November 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Love Actually Is All Around

Filming Locations:

Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Box Office

Budget:

£30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$647,984 (Japan) (6 February 2004)

Gross:

$5,010,288 (Japan) (5 March 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min 129 min 129 min (Asian Edition)

Sound Mix:

DTS (as dts) Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When David (Hugh Grant) addresses his speech to the press, after the meeting with the President of the United States, he talks about the great things about Britain and candidly mentions 'Harry Potter.' Grant was set to appear as Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets but left the film due to scheduling conflicts. Harry Potter co-stars Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy and Frances de la Tour appear in Love Actually, although the latter is seen only in deleted scenes.

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Goofs

When David arrives at 10 Downing Street, his tie changes eleven times between shots (see trivia).

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Quotes

Billy Mack: When I was young and successful, I was greedy and foolish, and now I'm left with no one. Wrinkled and alone.

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Crazy Credits

Terence, who's in charge - Frank Moorey

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Connections

Referenced in Gossip Girl: It-Girl Happened One Night (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Jump (For My Love)"
(1983)
By Gary Skardina (as Skardina), Stephen Mitchell (as Mitchell) and Marti Sharron (as Sharron)
Performed by The Pointer Sisters
Courtesy of BMG/ BMG UK & Ireland Ltd

User Reviews

Bravo Richard Curtis

Like most guys I would never have seen this movie on my own or with male friends. However my girlfriend was in town and I thought a romantic comedy would make an ideal movie for us to see together.

I had heard about the reference to 9/11 made at the beginning of the movie and was dreading having to sit through that part. However I was pleasantly surprised to note that the reference was very minor and not particularly cringe worthy either so I am not quite sure why it annoyed some people so much.

As regards to the movie overall I quite enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it as an ideal date film. A lot of the reviews here have disparaged the movie because they thought it was too glib about love and very unrealistic. But I think you have to accept that the movie was made to make people laugh and bring the spirit of love into the Christmas holiday period. If you watch the film in that context then it does its job admirably well.

However for me the best moment in the film was the press conference given (standing side by side) by the American president and the British Prime Minister. I actually felt like standing up and cheering when Hugh Grant (as the Prime Minister) finally tells the American president to his face and in front of the worlds press that Britain will no longer kowtow to American wishes but will have an independent view of its own.

Considering that America is the biggest market for movies it was extremely brave of Richard Curtis to write this scene and he deserves a lot of credit for portraying the American president as rather loathsome and putting into context what the `Special Relationship' really is all about.

As Richard Curtis must have known the movie had done okay but not great in the States. However it has cleaned up here in the UK and I'm sure will do very well in the rest of the world too.

So Bravo Richard Curtis for standing up for your principals; you are a hero!