Love Actually 2003

     Billy Mack is an aging and has-been rock star.  He is staging a Christmas themed comeback cover album titled Love is All Around.  Billy knows the music is not very good but he agrees to do the promotion.  During the five weeks leading up to Christmas several related stories about romantic love and the obstacles to happiness are presented.  Daniel’s wife died and he is left to take care of his stepson Sam.  Juliet and Peter have just been married.      Jamie is a writer and he’s taking a writing retreat by himself in rural France.  Harry is the managing director of a design agency and he becomes interested in his new secretary.  David is the recently elected Prime Minister, he begins to like Natalie and she is a new junior member of the household staff.  Sarah has had a two year crush on the design company's creative director where she works.
     There are some tense and sad scenes plus some audience members may object to the portrayal of the US President as a crude bully??  There is a matter-of-fact portrayal of loving inter-racial friendship and romance.  I’ve seen this movie several times and I also have a DVD copy.  It’s a funny Christmas movie that you don’t get tired of watching again!!  5* (I really like this movie)

135 min, Comedy directed and written by Richard Curtis with Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy Gregor Fisher, Rory MacGregor, Collin Firth, Sienna Guillory, Emma Thompson, Lulu Popplewell, Kris Marshall, Heike Makatsch, Martin Freeman, Joanna Page, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andrew Lincoln, Keira Knightley.

Note:  Metacritic 55 out of 100 with 41 critics (21 positive, 16 mixed, 4 negative) 8.6 out of 10 user scores (299 positive, 33 mixed, 17 negative), 3 1/2* Roger Ebert, Common Sense Media Nell Minow, age 16+,4* positive, 5* sex, 5* language, 3* drinking, drugs, smoking, empire online 3* out of 5*, Letterboxd 3.4* out of 5*, Amazon 4.4* out of 5* with 3524 ratings, The Guardian 2* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw.

Special Note:  Filmed in London, Surrey, England; Bouches-du-Rhone, Var, France; Kenya.  Lucia Moniz and Colin Firth are swimming in a lake but it was actually only eighteen inches deep.  They had to kneel down and pretend to be in deeper water.  It was over run my mosquitoes, Firth was badly bitten, his elbow swelled up to the size of an avocado and required medical attention.  Richard Curtis auditioned many British girls for the part of Sarah.  He said, I want someone like Laura Linney.  The Casting Director snapped and said get Laura Linney, she auditioned and got the part.