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Actually Not Bad

December 2, 2003
Laura Nunez

Love Actually is predictable, disjointed, soppy schmaltz. And I liked it. I laughed, I went ‘ahhh’ at the cute bits. God help me, I even cried. Why, then, do I like such a film? Well, because it’s Christmas, and at Christmas lots of things appeal that otherwise wouldn’t (York’s not bloody freezing; it’s ‘festive’). As you might have gathered, this is a love story, or rather several love stories. It follows the fortunes of a cross-section of Londoners – everyone from the Prime Minister to housewives, ageing rockers and tea girls. For this is a film with a message: love will prosper across social class, age, gender, language barriers…the list goes on and on as our characters find themselves embroiled in the twists and turns of being in love. So who falls in love? Everyone! Who gets their girl or boy? Everyone! Because it’s Christmas, and you can keep your unrequited love thank you very much. We’ll save that sort of thing for January, to coincide with the bills.

One of the film’s main attractions is a cast crammed full of people who we all know and love, including Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, and, er, Martine McCutcheon. I’ve never really been a fan of Ms McCutcheon, and she annoyed me throughout the film. She plays a tea-girl who works for the Prime Minister, played by Hugh Grant, and the two…you’ve guessed it, fall in love. The Prime Minister is one of the strongest characters in the film, played very well by an all-singing, all-dancing Hugh Grant (really). His scene of defiance against the American president, played by Billy Bob Thornton, has, however to be seen to be believed. Bush’s poodle it ain’t, but it has that ‘lets rally round the Prime Minister’ feel that makes you wonder if money changed hands somewhere.

One of my favourite characters is played be Bill Nighy- an aging rocker of the Mick Jagger variety, who has some of the funniest scenes in the film. The interview scene is particularly good, but I won’t spoil it.

The trouble with the film is that it views like a series of spliced shorts. The characters skirt around each other, and it would have been nice to have seen a bit more interweaving of the characters stories. They were really just English archetypes, amongst shots of London for homesick southerners (like me!), or overseas audiences that want to see Hugh Grant grin and be endearing. True, they do all come together at the end, at a London airport, with the ‘coming home for Christmas’ theme, but it’s a bit contrived. I feel I’m being too harsh though. It’s far too much of a piece of fluff for words like ‘interweaving’ and ‘contrived.’ I will say though, that there are some highly questionable instances of Anglo-American relations, but it’s not explored too much to bother me.

In all seriousness, no, it’s not a great film. But if you want something light-hearted to put you in the Christmas spirit, or your brain can’t take much after you’ve handed in your week ten essay, then go and enjoy it. Go on! After the film company have paid the salaries of this cast, they’ll need to pack everyone they can get into the cinemas. Won’t you feel good knowing that you’ve made someone’s Christmas?

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