Love Actually is one of the films everyone seems to love. Myself however? I’ve never really been a fan since I first watched it. Yes, it’s a great new idea and sparked different movies like Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve, but if you really get down to the nitty gritty, it’s not for me.

Love Actually follows a host of different storylines all based around love and during Christmas time. These stories include Hugh Grant as Prime Minister, Colin Firth falling in love with a woman who can’t speak English, new bride Keira Knightly finding out her groom’s best friend is in love with her and Alan Rickman having an affair with a younger woman and gifting her a necklace while his wife, Emma Thompson of all people, has to sit back and enjoy a rubbish CD instead. How lovely.

These are just a few of the storylines as there are many more. I remember seeing a quote saying that if a bomb went off during this movie it’d be the worst thing to happen to British cinema because of how many amazing British actors are a part of it. Oh and I forgot to tell you the best storyline in the film, Martin Freeman acting as a stand in porn star (!) on a big budget movie set. Don’t worry, you don’t see any of his parts (whether that’s a good thing for you or not I’ll leave that to you).

The reason I’m not a huge fan of this movie is because most of the storylines are actually quite anti-love or show off the wrong type of love. The image above is a man trying to woo Keira Knightly right under the nose of his best friend! How is that fair? Alan Rickman’s affair is just horrid and PM Hugh Grant fires a girl just because he starts falling in love with her! It’s all a bit weird and a bit wrong. Don’t get me wrong it’s quite sweet at times but most of the time it’s more of a meh storyline. Like Geordie Shore or TOWIE. We’re watching snippets of their lives and as it’s supposed to be real life it’s a bit boring.

Maybe I’m just the wrong age for it? I watched it first when I was quite young (mid teens) and I found it boring. Watching it again with my ex boyfriend, he was loving it while I was not amused, the spider that popped up halfway through was the most fun I had that evening.

But I digress. If you enjoy soppy romances that don’t have a lot of romance then this may be the film for you. Or if you get bored of one storyline, this has multiple so it’ll keep you more engaged and kind of make you feel like the time goes quicker when watching it.

What do you think of Love Actually?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding