Movie Review: Love Actually

As the end of the year approaches, good holiday movies are in high demand. “Love Actually” is the perfect romantic comedy for the holiday season. It may be sappy at times, but there are both happy and sad stories in the mix, so there is a little something for everyone. The time around Christmas is always a magical time of year and the movie follows various characters in the five weeks before Christmas and then until the month after Christmas. The movie is filled with various moments that bring a smile to the face. It has comedy, love, friendship, music, and more.

The cast list is impressive, and British. Hugh Grant stars as the Prime Minister of Britain. Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, and Emma Thompson play large roles. Martin Freeman is also included in this famous cast, along with with Keira Knightley and Chiwetel Ejiofor. At times it seems like the large cast might get confusing, but the stories are tied together in such a way that it makes the movie worth it. While the acting may not be Oscar-worthy, the actors themselves are worth the watch, and they portray their characters with ease and style.

A movie which attempts to follow so many plots would assumably end in somewhat of a disaster, but “Love Actually” manages to pull it off with very few hiccups. The Prime Minister (Grant) falls in love with one of his employees, which creates several problems that would not exist if he was not the Prime Minister. His sister (Thompson) is having her own marital problems, and the story of her and her husband is perhaps one of the sadder stories in the movie. Then, there is a young boy who has fallen in love with a girl from his school. He is convinced that she does not know he exists, so his part of the movie is spent trying to figure out how to get her to notice him. There are several more stories intertwined among these that are filled with just as much laughter and love.

“Love Actually” is not necessarily a love story, but it is a story about love. A lot of love stories fail to show all different types of love, but this movie includes a lot of kinds of love, from friendship to romance, and manages to do so in a heartwarming, genuine way. In the movie, there are happy stories, about new couples and new love, and there are stories about loving friends, and then there is a sad story or two. All of these stories are linked together by the end of the movie.

As with any romantic comedy, expectations should be kept reasonable. The movie is a little sappy and it parts of it are predictable. Maybe some of the plot is not realistic, but that is to be expected of a romantic comedy. The cast is great and they put on a genuine performance that could probably leave anyone smiling. “Love Actually” is a heart-warming holiday movie that is worth the watch as the holiday season approaches.


Erica Dettmer-Radtke is a senior at Mines. She is editor in chief of The Oredigger. Erica is a Statistics major and came to Mines from Boulder, CO. In her spare time, while not studying or working on the paper, she enjoys being outside, reading, photography, and cooking.


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