christophaskell Review of Love Actually

Love Actually (2003)

...perhaps the greatest romantic comedy of this young millenium

[9/10 · 17 November 2003]

Love, as a word, contains a hundred different meanings. Loving someone covers many situations, depending on the context it's used in and your relationship with that person. Even though certain love might be hard to understand, and even harder to express, Christmas generally is the one time a year where you're allowed to make said expressions, where you're allowed to say how you really feel. Especially in the world Richard Curtis creates in ‘Love Actually'. By using the trendy technique of telling a billion stories at once and having their interdependence gradually revealed, he has crafted perhaps the greatest romantic comedy of this young millennium. With ‘Love Actually' Curtis raises the bar at what we're allowed to laugh at (by showing us what would have previously been considered too risqué), challenges us to keep our eyes open for love (it might be in the place you least expect it), and most importantly challenges the studio system by redefining the romantic comedy market (up until now being monopolized by teens or young twenty-somethings). My hope is that everybody gets to see this movie: it has a wide release over here in the states and it's currently on at least two screens in all those big multiplexes. If you have loved on any level, from a friend to a spouse to your young child, you will find someone to relate to herein. And in a wonderful surprise, someone finally separates the genres ‘romantic comedy' and ‘chick flick', Curtis making a film that's just as side-splittingly funny as it is saccharin and romantic. Cancel plans if you must, but make sure you get out and support this movie in the theaters. If you're reading this after the movie has left the theaters then make sure you go rent it soon, you'll be very happy you did. Rating: 32/40