Love Actually (2003) * * *

Directed by:  Richard Curtis

Starring:  Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy, Martine McCutcheon, Billy Bob Thornton, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Rodrigo Santoro, Thomas Sangster, Lucia Moniz, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Love Actually is seven (or maybe more) romantic comedies rolled into one sweet, feel-good Romantic Comedy.    That it takes place in the weeks before Christmas adds to his likability and warmth.     I grant you there may have been one or two subplots too many, but overall Love Actually wins you over with its consistent charm. 

How do I recap the romances or burgeoning romances or dying romances?    Hopefully rather quickly without giving too much away, although you can readily guess with 99% certainty how each will be resolved.     We have the Prime Minister (Grant) who on his first day on the job falls in love with one of his staff.    He knows he is in love right away and says, "This is so inconvenient,"    It is difficult enough to navigate dealing with a bullying US President (Thornton); imagine when the President hits on the girl he loves.     The Prime Minister's sister Karen (Thompson) is happily married with kids, but detects her husband Harry (Rickman) may be in the opening stages of an affair.   

There is Daniel (Neeson), a recent widower with a stepson who falls in love with a classmate.    We also have a writer (Firth), who retreats to France to write his newest work only to fall for a Portuguese woman.    Then, there is the twentyish British man who strikes out with women in England, but theorizes he could conquer the women of Wisconsin solely because of his British accent.    Then there is the touchy matter of a man who is in love with the new spouse of his best friend, but people incorrectly assume he is in love with the groom.     Oh, and then there is an office worker in Harry's office (Linney) who has a crush on another guy in the office and tries to navigate a long-awaited date with him AND deal with the constant demands of her special needs brother.

Got all that?   Good, there will be a quiz later.   Oh, and then there is the aging British rock star Billy Mack (Nighy), who hates that he is relegated to recording a silly Christmas version of "Love Is All Around,"    He denounces it on talk shows and as a goof dares the record-buying public to make it #1 by Christmas.     Billy may have riches and still be a name, but he is lonely and without a love on Christmas.    The closest thing he has to a relationship is a bromance with his long-suffering manager.

Love Actually maintains a sweet, cheerful tone throughout and acts almost as a London Christmas travelogue.    The buildings are all decorated, the scenery is cheery, and Christmas music hangs in the air as our couples and would-be couples try to figure things out.    The movie could have lopped off the Linney subplot, the Firth subplot, and the Wisconsin-bound Brit subplot and still retained its warmth minus about thirty minutes of running time.    The actors prove to be exceptional romantic comedians, especially Grant, a natural romantic comedian whose awkward attempts at romance cause him to make some irrational moves on the way to winning his beloved's hand.   

All's well that end's well in Love Actually.    Things fall the way you would expect and we still are interested in the outcomes, mainly because writer-director Richard Curtis insightfully infuses with people with human touches we can all recognize.