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Love Actually (2003) (1 Viewer)

What story/relationship is the best?

  • Total voters
    61
KarmaPolice said:
I was wondering the opinion of the masses on this Christmas "classic?".    It's one that my wife and I have seen a bunch and gravitate to.  It's also one that I think if you pick apart too much would get problematic and I could see people not liking it or thinking it doesn't hold up almost 20 years later.    

How to you rate the movie, and what relationship/story do you gravitate to the most in the movie.   Is there are story or subplot you don't like at all? 

:popcorn:
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For whatever reason, my Facebook universe is very passionate about this movie in both extremes. It seems a few times a year, my feed has a debate about whether it is any good or not. 

(This may be skewed by one of my friends being a film writer who hates it, and lets the universe know every so often. But the debates don't always involve him.)

I've seen it once and liked it well enough. I voted 3 and had to look up the names of the characters because I'd forgotten them. 

 
I saw it in theaters, bought the DVD, watched it every Christmas for about 15 years, I even noticed the slight differences in the Netflix version. 

I rated it a 5, voted Jaime & Aurelia.🤓

 
Pip's Invitation said:
For whatever reason, my Facebook universe is very passionate about this movie in both extremes. It seems a few times a year, my feed has a debate about whether it is any good or not. 

(This may be skewed by one of my friends being a film writer who hates it, and lets the universe know every so often. But the debates don't always involve him.)

I've seen it once and liked it well enough. I voted 3 and had to look up the names of the characters because I'd forgotten them. 
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@Pip's Invitation -  I am not on SM besides here.  Is this bolded about the movie in general, or was it the stuff that I encountered in the podcast I listened to? (more looking at it through 2021 eyes and stuff like the fat shaming stands out?)   More curious if it's that people who don't like it always haven't liked it.   Why does your film writer friend hate it?  

Like I said, I was surprised a bit by the one podcast - which was Unspooled btw.   Until then I hadn't encountered a really negative reaction to the movie.  I get the things they were saying, but IMO the small moments and platonic relationships are what I really love, and I still think the message and the movie's heart is ultimately still in the right place.   

 
Atomic Punk said:
Had no idea this was considered a Christmas movie until this week when it was mentioned by two different people when discussing Christmas movies.  I figured it was a romcom, stars Hugh Grant and has the word Love in the title ... triple whammy for me to avoid it. Might check it out tonight after dinner based on your recommendation.
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I am not a fan of rom coms and have not seen this movie.   I didn’t know it was labeled as a Xmas movie.   After reading the thread, I am not sure it is a Xmas movie or if it is a move worth watching.   

 
Jamie and the Portuguese housekeeper is the best romantic storyline. 

(Jamie's brother and Jamie's unseen hornball wife-underrated romance ❤️)

The guy obsessed with his buddies wife-lame. 

Prime Minister and girl from wrong side of the tracks--very fun.

 
Mrs. Punk and I watched it last night and had a hard time lasting through it. There was just way too many completely ridiculously unbelievable scenes and dialogue. Despite loving many of the individual actors (Linney, Neeson, Knightley in particular), I cant give it more than a 2 out of 5. If it wasn’t for the Nighy character, it would drop even lower. Mrs. Punk was even harder on it and is still ridiculing me this morning for suggesting it.

 
Doug B said:
Calling it "creepy" is over the top, IMHO. In universe, while Mark's feelings are unrequited, they aren't unwanted. Again, in universe, Mark accepts the inevitable -- he doesn't keep pushing the issue. He accepts that Juliet is happy and moves on. I think some critics are looking at the film through a post-"me too" lens and seeing things in the character of Mark that the film does not show us.
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I don't know man.   I get the feeling that if one of us found out our good friend had kept tapes of the wedding where it's just close up shots of our wife, we would find that a bit creepy - not to mention showing up at our doorstep with signs. (also, what was he going to say if his buddy answered the door?)    I guess I also disagree a bit on how "unwanted" they are.  I don't get the sense that Juliet is into him at all, it's just more a of a consolation kiss at the end.   I am sure most of us have been attracted to somebody else's SO while they were dating/married, and in that sense I think people "get" this story line.    It's always been one of my least favorite of the stories.  

 
Atomic Punk said:
Mrs. Punk and I watched it last night and had a hard time lasting through it. There was just way too many completely ridiculously unbelievable scenes and dialogue. Despite loving many of the individual actors (Linney, Neeson, Knightley in particular), I cant give it more than a 2 out of 5. If it wasn’t for the Nighy character, it would drop even lower. Mrs. Punk was even harder on it and is still ridiculing me this morning for suggesting it.
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To be fair, this is a bit of a staple of rom/coms.    Thanks for the thoughts though, and interesting the Mrs liked it even less.  

 
KarmaPolice said:
@Pip's Invitation -  I am not on SM besides here.  Is this bolded about the movie in general, or was it the stuff that I encountered in the podcast I listened to? (more looking at it through 2021 eyes and stuff like the fat shaming stands out?)   More curious if it's that people who don't like it always haven't liked it.   Why does your film writer friend hate it?  

Like I said, I was surprised a bit by the one podcast - which was Unspooled btw.   Until then I hadn't encountered a really negative reaction to the movie.  I get the things they were saying, but IMO the small moments and platonic relationships are what I really love, and I still think the message and the movie's heart is ultimately still in the right place.  
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It's about the movie in general. Main criticism from the movie writer friend is that he thinks it's a series of scenes/vignettes as opposed to a coherent movie. 

 
KarmaPolice said:
I don't know man.   I get the feeling that if one of us found out our good friend had kept tapes of the wedding where it's just close up shots of our wife, we would find that a bit creepy - not to mention showing up at our doorstep with signs. (also, what was he going to say if his buddy answered the door?)    I guess I also disagree a bit on how "unwanted" they are.  I don't get the sense that Juliet is into him at all, it's just more a of a consolation kiss at the end.
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1) It's not Mark's feelings themselves that creepy ... it would be the outward manifestations of those feelings that either are or aren't creepy. If someone surreptitiously checks out your SO in public, but keeps it to themselves ... that's not creepy because creepiness requires an audience. If your SO's admirer leers obviously, or walks up to the two of you and makes his attraction known -- even in a polite, classy way -- it's gets pretty creepy. No need to mention more extreme actions like following you guys into the parking lot, etc.

Ergo ... the secret wedding tapes are not creepy unless Juliet's husband Peter sees them one day. Juliet does see a portion of the tapes, and after initial surprise essentially forgives Mark for his feelings towards her. She is not revulsed or angry -- or even apparently creeped out. That doesn't mean Mark has a way in with Juliet or anything like that ... it's really a kind of subtle, mature understanding that Juliet & Mark reach in the end.

2) Maybe calling Mark's feelings "not unwanted" by Juliet ... that might make it sound like she's entertaining the prospect of Mark as a lover. That's not quite what I'm getting at. The easiest way I can explain it is that she's not upset or revulsed by Mark feelings so long as she's comfortable and convinced that Mark will respect boundaries. In universe, Juliet appears to feel exactly that way. Also in universe ... there's no doubt she's at least flattered.

Assumedly, if Peter had answered the door instead of Juliet, Mark would've had a cover story or an excuse ("... I'm going to profess my love to that girl at the coffee shop ..."). Best not to think too hard on it, though -- it's only a movie :D  

 
Doug B said:
1) It's not Mark's feelings themselves that creepy ... it would be the outward manifestations of those feelings that either are or aren't creepy. If someone surreptitiously checks out your SO in public, but keeps it to themselves ... that's not creepy because creepiness requires an audience. If your SO's admirer leers obviously, or walks up to the two of you and makes his attraction known -- even in a polite, classy way -- it's gets pretty creepy. No need to mention more extreme actions like following you guys into the parking lot, etc.

Ergo ... the secret wedding tapes are not creepy unless Juliet's husband Peter sees them one day. Juliet does see a portion of the tapes, and after initial surprise essentially forgives Mark for his feelings towards her. She is not revulsed or angry -- or even apparently creeped out. That doesn't mean Mark has a way in with Juliet or anything like that ... it's really a kind of subtle, mature understanding that Juliet & Mark reach in the end.

2) Maybe calling Mark's feelings "not unwanted" by Juliet ... that might make it sound like she's entertaining the prospect of Mark as a lover. That's not quite what I'm getting at. The easiest way I can explain it is that she's not upset or revulsed by Mark feelings so long as she's comfortable and convinced that Mark will respect boundaries. In universe, Juliet appears to feel exactly that way. Also in universe ... there's no doubt she's at least flattered.

Assumedly, if Peter had answered the door instead of Juliet, Mark would've had a cover story or an excuse ("... I'm going to profess my love to that girl at the coffee shop ..."). Best not to think too hard on it, though -- it's only a movie :D  
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The bolded part is the best part for me.   I love discussions like this about movies.  

Going to watch it again, but I will say that I disagree with the premise that it's only creepy if the husband finds out.   

Long story short, I still graded the movie highly, but I do find it a bit weird that about 1/2 the love represented in the movie are people who don't even talk and barely interact.   I get it from the kid, but it's a bit odd for the others.   The movie romances that I like more are opposite - ie the Before movies, where it's all talking and interacting.   It's cute for the couple that can't communicate and does their best to learn a different language, for me not as cute for the grown man taping another dude's wife close up through the whole wedding.  

 
KarmaPolice said:
Long story short, I still graded the movie highly, but I do find it a bit weird that about 1/2 the love represented in the movie are people who don't even talk and barely interact.   I get it from the kid, but it's a bit odd for the others.   The movie romances that I like more are opposite - ie the Before movies, where it's all talking and interacting.   It's cute for the couple that can't communicate and does their best to learn a different language, for me not as cute for the grown man taping another dude's wife close up through the whole wedding.  
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This is partly what makes the movie both realistic and interesting.   Do you really think most “love” or “infatuation” is something that both parties are typically aware of?   I’d be willing to bet this is a very common occurrence.

 
Alex P Keaton said:
This is partly what makes the movie both realistic and interesting.   Do you really think most “love” or “infatuation” is something that both parties are typically aware of?   I’d be willing to bet this is a very common occurrence.
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Of course not, but I don't think that's exactly what I am talking about either.   Maybe I will have a more coherent position if we watch it tonight.  

 
Alex P Keaton said:
Lol.  Ditto.  Look forward to hearing more.
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The beauty of movies and art is sometimes the emotion trumps the brain, and the movie still makes me emotional in places.  (just not the storyline with the creepy dude obsessing about his best friend's now wife).   :P

 
krista4 said:
Not a rom-com person at all, but this movie is a rare exception.  Love it even after repeated viewings.  But you're going to make me look up all those names to see who's who so I can vote?  :hot:  
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Non Rom Com people tend to like -

Mike Nichol's Closer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M_P7rSWA4E

Neil LaBute's Billy And Billie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMS6vy40A0A

Playing By Heart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqyWEnfIg6s

FXX's You're The Worst

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx9QN3O0Gw4

The Cutting Edge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm0f0oFUxVA

****

Michelle Langley wrote a book that is called Women's Infidelity and it was quite controversial at the time. It discussed the top two questions that men ask when they are cheated on are 1) Do you love him? 2) Did you do it in our bed?

The character Anna( Julia Roberts) IMHO encapsulates nearly all women's relationship model of authentic behavior in Closer. The movie did a good job in casting as they picked two relatively middling actresses in Julia Roberts and Natalie Portman to display apathy and dysfunction as a type of open emotional terrorism.

Love Actually tends to cover the magic appeal of courtship. Notting Hill was designed more to reflect circumstance to courtship. Four Weddings And A Funeral shows the impact of timing on courtship. Bridget Jones' Diary handles doubt to truth in courtship. Richard Curtis doesn't go past the first few months of most relationships because he knows he's in murky waters at that point.

The modern "Rom/Com" is dying because the former pathway to courtship is dying. The sexual/relationship marketplace no longer has a "middle class" format.

Nearly all women like courtship in so much as the context of "being chased/being chosen" but very few like the mundane reality of traffic jams and loads of laundry and everyday grind of life. The kiss of death isn't that the few select men that most women want don't trust women, it's that nearly all women of adult age are those who are the least trustful of other women period. People point to toxic masculinity without acknowledging the level of pure brutality that women inflict on other women is usually the most savage.

I can have an honest conversation with women because I don't engage in Richard Curtis like courtship rituals. I know they are holding a dead man's switch and I treat them accordingly. Most men make the mistake of thinking being reviled is worst than being someone that can't be respected.

Someone asked me why I never got married last year, one of my neighbors, I told them the truth - I don't negotiate with terrorists of any kind. Particularly the emotional ones.

Watch the films and shows on that list, you'll learn quite a bit.

 
Saw it when it first came out with an ex and it stuck in my mind as being really good, 4/5.

Watched it a few weeks ago with the new gf. Was shocked at how creepy and a little ridiculous it has become. 2/3.

 
I was wondering if this movie would be thought of slightly different if the cast wasn't so awesome.   Would it have the same feeling if it was just random actors we don't already love? 

 
KarmaPolice said:
I have 0 clue how anybody would not label it as such.   it very much revolves around the holiday, and Christmas is part of the plot.  
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I didn’t mean to imply that it wasn’t a Xmas movie.  I don’t remember anyone ever mentioning this movie when the discussion of Xmas movies occurs as it always does around the Holidays. 

 
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
It's the film equivalent to Baby, It's Cold Outside in that it can be fun, until you realize that pretty much every male in the film except for the drunken rock star played by Bill Nighy behaves like a total toxic #######.  
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The weight of Love Actually is partially carried by the "familiarity/name recognition" factor of most of the cast.

You get very little time with most of the characters, so part of the "development" is relying on the audience's nostalgia with the actors themselves. Hugh Grant always plays the bumbling confused goof that oscillates between the sheer unapologetic bad guy. You can sell a short story concept if he's with a girl who is far under his league. The audience has seen him be painful to women as such in other films ( Four Weddings and Bridget Jones) They'll want something different but in the same vein.

Colin Firth doesn't need much because most fans will remember him as Mr Darcy in both Bridget Jones and Pride And Prejudice. He's playing the same character. Alan Rickman is yet another villain. Keira Knightley plays the object of affection that hasn't been truly earned again.

The film doesn't work without star power because the audience investment is based on fan service. You can't really have fan service for no names. That's why even the hot "American Girls" were all name brand actresses.

The bit about people at airports is not rooted in love, it's rooted in biological imperative/survival adaptation, but it's meant as a feel good movie so people will just buy into it.

Richard Curtis does not make introspective relationship movies. Because after the 4 year mark, most relationships turn to crap. And you can't sell that to an audience. Rich or poor, young or old, good looking or ugly, doesn't matter, it's all the same carnage. What you can sell is the first few moments when you meet someone new and everything seems so hopeful.  Someone here tell me that I'm wrong.

 
GordonGekko said:
Richard Curtis does not make introspective relationship movies. Because after the 4 year mark, most relationships turn to crap. And you can't sell that to an audience. Rich or poor, young or old, good looking or ugly, doesn't matter, it's all the same carnage. What you can sell is the first few moments when you meet someone new and everything seems so hopeful.  Someone here tell me that I'm wrong.
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Truly fascinating stuff.  I mean this with pure sincerity.

 
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