Just saw this tonight, and I must say I liked it. Completely bought into it, and I felt that I got some decent payoffs in the end. My only complaint is that there were so many characters that certain plotlines just simply got a lot more attention than others (though usually the amount of time allotted was about proportionate to how good they turned out).
The Good:
- Liam Neeson and son
- Hugh Grant
- overaged pop-star guy, esp. his Britney Spears comment
- all the airport stuff, esp. the chase scene
- Emma Thompson
The Bad:
- The guy who goes to America, from when he walks into the bar
- Hugh Grant's love interest constantly being called fat when she clearly wasn't. There's nothing wrong with the actress or the part, but if they were going to keep that in, they should've cast someone else.
- Grant's apparently non-existent secret service (or whatever the hell they're called)
- almost no usage whatsoever of Keira Knightley's husband (Okwe from Dirty Pretty Things)
- Alan Rickman's secretary
- conclusion to Laura Linney's plotline
The Ugly:
- Billy Bob Thornton
- Rowan Atkinson
- everyone in Great Britain has an LCD computer screen, the latest and most fashionable electronics and furniture, and widescreen TVs. Oh, and they videotape stuff in widescreen mode, but magically it's in 1.33:1 when you do a closeup. Hmm.
- the overaged pop star's song
- Claudia Schiffer
- every school in London collaborates for a Christmas thing where the majority of the people on stage are adults?
- the standins: fun and funny, but a little too light overall. And were they shooting that scene for three weeks?
Nonetheless, a funny and cool film I enjoyed being able to see in the theater.
― Girolamo Savonarola, Sunday, 9 November 2003 00:56 (twenty-two years ago)
I thought it "actually" kinda sucked! not to say it doesn't have most of the ingredients that = movie pleasure for me, but with all the messing around with the various plotlines it really overreached, and none of the arcs turned out satisfactorily for me.
character stuff is the best thing about a movie like this & "love actually" had no time for it
though there definitely was some nice stuff there, like the very funny billy bob thornton mini-plot
especially HATED the one about the guy going to america
― s1utsky (slutsky), Sunday, 9 November 2003 01:58 (twenty-two years ago)
s1utsky's enthusiastic anticipation of this movie made me excited to see this, now I feel lots and confused.
everyone in Great Britain has an LCD computer screen, the latest and most fashionable electronics and furniture, and widescreen TVs.
This is of course true. And they're (we're?) all three degrees of separation from the Royal Family and heavily into buggery. Makes for great comedy!
― adaml (adaml), Sunday, 9 November 2003 06:13 (twenty-two years ago)
and everyone lives in North or West London (except Hugh Grant in About A Boy...okay, and Bridget Jones).
― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Sunday, 9 November 2003 07:09 (twenty-two years ago)
one month passes...
gsav--
we agree! your first post sums up completely my feelings about the movie. good to hear it wasn't a guilty pleasure for only me.
― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Saturday, 13 December 2003 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)
one month passes...
If I find that a year or two down the road I can't help but picture Hugh Grant whenever I hear "Jump (for my love)" I'm going to be very angry with this film.
― Eric H. (Eric H.), Saturday, 31 January 2004 21:09 (twenty-two years ago)
and everyone lives in North or West London (except Hugh Grant in About A Boy...okay, and Bridget Jones). Eh? Highbury=North, Fulham=West, nicht war?
― Map checking cuz (Enrique), Wednesday, 4 February 2004 14:40 (twenty-two years ago)