Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Richard Curtis has a big, giant brain. He’s been funny longer than some of you have been alive. And when it comes to romantic comedies, he’s staked out his own turf and he manages to do it better, and more consistently, than anyone else in the genre. And how’s the new one?
I was recently delighted to see LOVE ACTUALLY, the new film by Richard Curtis of FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, etc., writing fame. Right off, you have to bow down to a cast like this: Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson, with bit parts played by Rowan Atkinson and Billy Bob Thornton.
My count is seven story lines, though I might be off - these are intertwining stories examining love in all its wacky forms. It's dismissing to call this movie a romantic comedy - certainly a few of the story lines would make perfect romantic comedies, Hugh Grant playing the Prime Minister (a laugh in itself, though he pulls it off very well) who falls for one of his staff members, Colin Firth falling for the Portugese housekeeper even though their language barrier keeps them from communicating... but the movie is much more than that, exploring the consequences of slight straying in a stable marriage, the love of a sister for her mentally disturbed brother, and it goes on and on.
The audience seemed pleased with the film but I'm sure the execs are worried that American audiences are too dumb to keep up with so many people and the way they're related to each other. The storyline that seemed to be most crowd pleasing was Liam Neeson's as a stepdad of an 11-year-old fitting into his new role after his wife's death, a story that plays completely against expectations. The movie is really a lovely way to let great talent show off their skills, and music figures prominently in some great moments of classically stodgy actors letting loose with some impromptu dancing and karaoke. But the storylines aren't overwhelmed by the stars and you're left at the end both uplifted and troubled, because not all love stories can end neatly and succinctly. Curtis understood this and left some storylines more open, so hopefully they'll survive the cutting process that way. And I didn't even get to mention Thornton's truly smarmy turn as the American President - well, I guess I just did!
Really, the movie is not perfect but is a lovely, ambitious effort and gives its actors and its brilliant writer/director Curtis a chance to show off what they do best. Please, go see this movie - right now it's slated to open against the third installment of THE MATRIX!
Well, after what I’ve recently learned about REVOLUTIONS, I’ll say this... any counterprogramming is a good thing. Besides, it’s not like those audiences are the same. Action junkies aren’t going to see LOVE, ACTUALLY no matter what else opens that weekend, and people looking to laugh probably aren’t going to want to watch a giant battle epic in which tons of characters die.
Did this next reviewer dig it as well?
Hey Harry
I know someone else had a look at this a few weeks ago, but I have just seen a test screening of Richard Curtis' directorial debut "Love Actually", and wanted to pipe in with my tupenny's worth.
First off, let me set my stall out early doors and state that I really don't care for romantic comedies. I was bored by Four Weddings and Notting Hill, and almost gave up cinema forever after the execrable Sweet Home Alabama. I only went to the screening on the basis of the impressive cast list, and just chanted "Blackadder, Blackadder" to myself in an attempt to forget Curtis' more recent writing efforts.
Perhaps it was due to my low expectations that I actually enjoyed the film immensely. As has been said before, it follows the relationships of about 10 couples in the five weeks running up to Christmas, and although there is nothing particularly new in any of the plotlines, it is on the whole very well structured and well acted. I will take a brief look at each relationship in the order that they come to memory:
1. The British PM (Hugh Grant) and his tea-girl Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) - As ever, Hugh Grant plays Hugh Grant, whom you may remember from such Richard Curtis films as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, but now Hugh has managed to get himself elected as Prime Minister. I am generally pretty ambivalent towards Hugh Grant, but I found him strangely likable in this role, and he is involved in an especially good scene where he dances around Number 10 to the radio. There are a few early jibes at the present residents of 10 Downing Street early on, and a promising love triangle involving the US President (Billy-Bob Thornton), which is disappointingly brief. Thornton plays a very unlikeable and bullying Prez which I suspect will do the film no favours at the US box office. Martine McCutcheon is OK as the PM's love interest, although in general this plotline is highly predictable. There is however a great scene towards the end when the PM goes door-to-door trying to find Natalie.
2. Juliet (the yummy Keira Knightley), her new husband and his best mate (and best man) Mark (Teachers' and This Life's Andrew Lincoln, who creates some very interesting art). This is another highly predictable storyline, with the highlight occurring early in the piece at the end of the wedding ceremony itself. Were it not for Keira Knightley keeping up my interest, I would put forward this thread as the prime candidate for the cutting-room floor. As it is, the thread which I suspect will find itself trimmed the most is:
3. Office worker Sarah (Laura Linney) and her object of affection, work colleague Carl (Rodrigo Santoro). This was the one thread of the piece which I really didn't give a monkeys about, and it would be no great loss if it was to be removed from the film. Again, there is nothing new in the storyline, and I doubt if anyone would really miss it if it were not to find its way into the final cut.
4. Loveless Colin (Kris Marshall, best known as the funny one in BBC shitcom My Family), and his quest to go to America to find one of the millions of girls who will no doubt immediately fall for him due to his "cute" Basildon British accent. Needless to say, as soon as he has mustered some cash he heads off to Wisconsin (naturally, where else?) with a bag full of condoms. Marshall is amongst the best performers, although he doesn't feature much and is basically just playing a slight variation on his character from My Family.
5. Hopeless crime writer Jamie (Colin Firth), who discovers his wife has been cheating on him with his best friend, and heads off to his holiday home in France, where romance blossoms with his Portuguese cleaning lady Aurelia. The majority of this plotline consists of poor language-barrier semi-gags, but there is a fabulous scene towards the end as Jamie treks through town alongside Aurelia's dad, fat sister and a few hundred others in search of Aurelia. As ever though, this thread is also as predictable as a prune-eaters bowels.
6. Recently widowed Daniel (Liam Neeson) and his stepson. I found this thread to be the most interesting of the piece, with some good dialogue between the father and stepson, although it was marred slightly by a disappointing ending on the part of the stepson. Neeson was excellent, and the kid was reasonably good in terms of child actors, at least I am not likely to wring his neck if I ever see him in the street.
7. Sarah's boss Harry (Alan Rickman), his wife Karen (Emma Thompson, playing the PM's little sister) and his devilishly attractive PA (whose name I forget). Not much to write home about here in terms of plot or humour, whilst Rickman and Thompson both play the same characters they always seem to play, in common with Hugh Grant, but less likable here. There is also a sadly unfunny cameo from Rowan Atkinson in this thread, which contends with Linney's as the one that I would miss the least if it were cut.
8. Ageing rocker Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) and his fat manager (Gregor Fisher, TV's Rab C Nesbitt). This thread provides without doubt the greatest amount of entertainment in the movie, and is probably the one thread that I would be really upset if it was cut in the slightest. Nighy is excellent as the rocker who releases a cheesy contender for the Christmas #1 spot, a truly horrible re-working of the Four Weddings theme "Love is All Around". There is a truly hilarious scene when Mack appears on Ant & Dec's (if you don;t know who they are, count yourself lucky) Saturday morning kids' show, and any scene involving Nighy is amongst the highlights of the entire film.
9. A pair of movie stand-ins, played by The Office's Martin Freeman, and an unknown but very attractive blonde girl. This is the thread which I fear will (sadly) find much of itself on the cutting room floor in the quest for a low certificate, as it involves a large amount of highly amusing nudity. This is one of the few threads of the film that has no pretensions of a serious message, and provides the second-most entertainment after the thread above.
In general I found the movie immensely enjoyable, it features an incredibly impressive cast list and more than its fair share of cameos (I lost count of the number of times I heard those around me whispering to each other "Isn't that the guy/girl from 24/American Pie/Starship Troopers/Claudia Schiffer") and although there is nothing especially new in the film there are numerous laugh-out-loud funny scenes, and it seemed to be universally enjoyed by the few hundred or so that were in the cinema with me. I suspect that the final cut will be a bit shorter as this cut weighed in at over 2 hours, but I would be disappointed if anything was lost from any of the scenes, other than those from Linney's and Rickman's threads. At the end of the day it is a romcom and it does exactly what it says on the tin, and unlike most in the genre it actually has a large portion of "com" to go with the "rom". This movie has Christmas release written all over it, and although there will be some heavyweight competition come the end of the year, I would eat the contents of a large hat shop if this film didn't rake in a good $100m plus. Hopefully this will mark an overdue return to form for Richard Curtis' writing, and I may even be persuaded to see another film featuring Hugh Grant in the future.
Mick
Thanks, both of you. Nicely done.
"Moriarty" out.
