Love Actually (2003)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2003
	Director: Richard Curtis (Notting Hill, About Time)
	Actors: Hugh Grant (Cloud Atlas), Liam Neeson (Taken, Star Wars Episode 1), Alan Rickman (Die Hard, Galaxy Quest, Harry Potter 1-8), Colin Firth (The King's Speech), Keira Knighley (Pirates of the Caribbean 1-3), Bill Nighy (Shaun of the Dead), Martin Freeman (The Hobbit 1-3)
	Country: GB, USA, F
	Genre: Comedy, Romance
	Conditions of visioning: 20.12.2014, HD VOD, Home cinema
Synopsis: About the affective life of several apparently disconnected characters starting five weeks before Christmas.
Review: This movie is already ten years old and I had never seen it, not being my favorite genre. But with Christmas approaching, I got into the spirit and decided to watch this "ultimate romantic comedy". I thought the story would be classical, but I was in fact surprised by the approach of showing not only the journey of one couple but of many! That idea is original, was hinted by the movie poster and looking at the posters of other romantic comedies made since, was probably copied. This gives the opportunity for the famous (mainly) British cast to shine. I liked in particular Hugh Grant in his role of young Prime Minister, and Bill Nighy who in the end will display another kind of love, with a broader meaning, like the preamble of the movie led me to expect. On top of the main cast, the cameos are numerous: Rowan Atkinson (the Mr. Bean), Denise Richards, Elisha Cuthbert, Billy Bob Thornton... But if the fragmented rhythm is appropriate for most of the stories (the ones with Martin Freeman, Hugh Grant or Keira Knighley), for some others it is handicapping. I am mainly thinking about the one with Colin Firth which is going too fast to look true, and in the end is overly exaggerated. And talking about the endings, some other stories conclude on an overly romantic tone (the son of Liam Neeson, the story with Hugh Grant), the kind that it out of this world and makes your girlfriend complain: "why can't you be more romantic like in this movie?!!" So what started like an original concept ends up in the pure tradition of romantic comedies. But a good one. Researching for this review made me find out the more recent movie by the same director: About Time, that I will try to watch soon.
Rating: 7 /10