Monday, December 7, 2015

On the third day of Christmas... Love Actually


What is it about this film that keeps me coming back to it every year? 
The amazing cast? The story lines? The charm? 
Whatever it is, it has become a must watch in my holiday line up. 


It begins with an opening sequence narrated by Hugh Grant. This is one of my favorite parts of the film. 
These people that are reuniting are not actors. The reunions are not staged. 
The film's crew camped out at Heathrow for a week to capture all of the scenes to use for the film. 
And I love what Hugh Grant says: 

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there- fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge- they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I have a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."

Onto the film itself; there are multiple story lines continuing through the film that all end up being connected in some way. There are some that I love, some that I dislike, some that are heartbreaking, some that are heartwarming. But the one thing that is in all of them is love. Love broken, love found, love between parents and children, love between siblings, love between friends, young love, probably every kind you can think of.

And of course, it is well acted. How could it not be with this cast? 

I have to warn that it isn't for all audiences. There is a fair amount of swearing in it as well as some nudity. In fact, I told my mom that most films that included the same elements wouldn't be ones I would enjoy, but for some reason this one still spoke to me and I have managed to look past all of that. 
The other day I finally made my mom watch it after talking to her about if for years but I fast forwarded through the naughty bits. Afterward I felt like that was a dumb thing to do because I felt like it left it feeling disjointed and took away a bit of its charm. I hope she was able to pick up on that a bit but I have come to the conclusion that this is a movie meant to be seen in whole. So, if you don't watch rated R movies or movies with those things in it you are better off to probably just leave this one alone.

If you have seen the film, what are your thoughts? 

And in case you have never heard of it, this is the trailer: 


4 comments:

Donna said...

So you wouldn't recommend watching it with a ClearPlay player that edits out the swearing and "naughty" parts? It sounds like a good movie other than those things. I think I wanted to watch it in the past but didn't because it was R.

Cheryl said...

I'm not sure. I was just fast forwarding so it was hard to know exactly when to stop it. You could try it and see. I would love to get an edited version if it did keep the story intact. Do you have a ClearPlay? If you do decided to watch it with one let me know what you think.

The Kings said...

I don't like the things that make it "R" rated.It is too bad that a movie with such potential has to put such junk in it. Thank you for editing it for me.

Cheryl said...

Agreed.