Love Actually

After attending its premiere, Emma Thompson thought "Love Actually" was "kind of out there". Hugh Grant said to her," Is this the most psychotic thing we've ever been in?" And explained in later interviews that it was director and screenwriter " Richard Curtis on steroids." Grant added that " When he writes about love, he really means it ". That may be the secret behind the film becoming one of the most unlikely Christmas classics, a status purely created by the viewing audience, which has grown in both size and devotion over the years. I mean, who ever heard of an R-rated Christmas classic? The critics gave it mixed reviews and pointed out many flaws. But what the audience has responded to most is its obvious and authentic goodwill aided by some exceptional acting.

The film is guilty of many of the accusations hurled against it. It's long, it's complicated, it's overstuffed with music, situations, jokes, foul language and an enormous cast whose connections to each other are not always clear on first viewing, with nine love stories. There's married love, unrequited love, the love of friends, first love, stymied love, love at first sight and adolescent fantasy love. There's also infidelity, marital difficulties, gigantic shifts in tone and wildly improbable things happening all the time. The film puts you through a dizzying series of emotions. Though it is essentially light and full of funny moments, it also has scenes that are sad and even tragic, moments that will make you cringe and flawed characters making terrible decisions. In other words, it's a lot like humanity and thus a lot like the holiday season.

Curtis had a long career as one of Britain's top comic sketch and television writers often working with his friend from Oxford, Rowan Atkinson with whom he co-created the Mr. Bean character. He was the primary writer for some of Britain's most successful comedy series and when he began writing for movies, he broke through with "Four Weddings and a Funeral", following that with "Notting Hill"and "Bridget Jones's Diary". This is why he was able to attract this amazing cast of mostly British actors, most of whom had a large international following. One of the complaints of some critics was that such a cast should have been in a big, serious film and were wasted here. That seems like the old Hollywood tendency to ignore comedies at award time. It's this cast that makes the film happen and gives it so much emotional power.

The many involvements of love are tied together by the story of old rock star Billy Mack, wonderfully realized by Bill Nighy, attempting to make a comeback with the Troggs late 60's song. "Love Is All Around" by replacing "Love: with "Christmas". Within minutes of the film's start his release of a string of sailor's expletives tells you this is going to be no ordinary Christmas film. He constantly ruins the usual promotional gigs by speaking his mind about things, driving his manager, Joe (Gregor Fisher), totally crazy. The song's music video is a tribute and funny take on Robert Palmer's "Addicted To Love" and "Simply Irresistible" with their very 80s models. Billy would have probably been at his peak in the 80s but judging from the album covers and posters in his office and Joe's Motorhead T-shirt, he was a hard rocker. When they are not in a scene, their video and rising popularity on television are in the background.

The biggest stars have the most serious story. Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson are a happily married couple with two children. He is the head of a design agency and she's devoted herself to the children. She is also the sister of the new Prime Minister, David (Hugh Grant). Troubles arise for them when Rickman's Harry is tempted by new secretary Mia (German film star Heike Makatsch) who makes an overt play for him, seemingly just for a lark. Thompson's scene accompanied by Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" (in her later, deep, smoky voiced version), is the most devastating moment in the film and one of Thompson's greatest as well.

Hugh Grant famously dancing around 10 Downing Street may have seemed an unlikely Prime Minister, but this was before Boris Johnson. Grant really didn't want to do that scene, thinking it unlikely for a P. M. but it turned out to be one of his most iconic and one still imitated by people all over the world. His search through Wandsworth for staff member Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) is one of the funniest extended scenes in the movie. Colin Firth is a writer who flees to France when his girlfriend is unfaithful, and falls in love with his Portuguese housekeeper, Amelia (Lucia Moniz) though there is a total language barrier between them. This was going to be a film as its own as was Hugh Grant's story and the merging of the two was the genesis of "Love Actually".

Daniel (Liam Neeson) and stepson Sam (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) are left alone after the death of Daniel's wife, and Daniel must try to connect with Sam, who seems to have totally withdrawn to his room. This turns into a romantic story for Sam, and provides one of the two entwined, orchestrated climaxes near the end of the film. I have some trouble with the story, largely because Sangster, though thirteen when he made the film, looks eight or nine to me (I mean, he was still playing a thirteen-year-old convincingly eight years later on "Game of Thrones"). He's a good actor and his seriousness as the character won me over in the end. Here, I also found the conversations between them a bit precocious, but perhaps that's just me. (Pay attention to who David mentions in his wife's eulogy).

A hidden love triangle exists between Juliet (Keira Knightly, Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Mark (Andrew Lincoln). One of the biggest of the establishing scenes is Peter and Juliet's wedding with Mark casually filming the proceedings. It includes a big musical moment that's one of the most totally fun parts of the film. (Look for director Curtis as one of the trombone players). Mark has been secretly in love with Juliet and has acted cold and unwelcoming so as not to complicate matters. This story also created a problem for me because though I believe Curtis intended Mark's actions to be sympathetic with some pathos, they instead make him look somewhat creepy. The front door scene, which is one of the best known,is not exempt from this but that's not what bothers me. If he brings his boombox and tells her to tell Paul "It's just carolers", shouldn't he be playing something that sounds like carolers? "Silent Night" is well sung but it doesn't sound at all like a group of acapella carolers. Maybe Peter is too far away to hear them.

Those are just some of the characters and stories, but I still have to comment on two of the lighter ones. Colin (Kris Marshall) is an unloved redheaded fellow having no luck finding a girl and gets a harebrained idea that if he flies to America, the girls will love his English accent. This develops in such an unreal way that you have to take it as a comic sketch based on adolescent boys' fantasies. It has no reasonable possibility in reality. John (Martin Freeman) and Judy (Joanna Page) are something else, however, as they provide completely unexpected nudity. It only exists to set up a joke, yet more than the infidelity and language in the rest of the film, it is unsuitable for some of the potential audience. First of all, they are stand-ins, not actors, who take the actors' spots and positions so the lighting and cameras can be set up in advance. This takes hours and actors won't do it, but as long as the stand-ins are around the same size and skin tone it works well. But what kind of film is this? It's very unlike the early 2000s and is more like the early 70s, when it seemed every film had to have scenes like this. I finally found an answer in an interview Curtis did. He said as a teenager, he often went to films to see the nude scenes and wanted to include it for that reason. And when was he a teenager? In the early to mid 70's. Its sketch-like nature allows it to be excerpted for some markets and though generally opposed to censorship, I prefer that more people be able to see the film.

In the whole it's no wonder that "Love Actually" has become such a hit with audiences and a Christmas classic in spite of itself. The film is epic in its way, drawing you into so many stories and situations and pulling your emotions this way and that. If you really get into it, it can be an exhausting experience. The Heathrow Airport scenes that open and close the film illustrate that love is, in fact, all around.