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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Fidelity, unrequited love,
forlorn love, platonic love, lost love and a disco
dancing Prime Minister highlight Richard Curtis'
delightful comic ode to love and all its different
varieties in "Love Actually." With marvelous
performances from some of the best comic and
dramatic actors working in the UK, "Love Actually"
keeps you chuckling and entertained for its two
hour plus running time.
Build around a series of interrelated stories, we
meet Billy Mack (the wonderful Bill Nighy) a
washed up singer attempting to turn a horrible
hack of a song "Christmas is All Around" into a
hit single. The only problem is that Billy hates
the song and will tell anybody that will listen
that it's a load of rubbish. The only person that
still has faith in him is his put upon manager. A
recently widowed father (Liam Neeson) must find
some way to reach his uncommunicative step-son.
Writer Jamie Bennett (Colin Firth) discovers that
his wife is cheating on him. When he retreats to
regroup and finish his novel he finds love in the
most unexpected place. In the funniest and most
interesting story of the lot, the new Prime
Minister (Hugh Grant) falls in love with his
Executive Assistant (Martine McCutcheon) but
becomes afraid of the fall-out if he has an affair
with her so he has her reassigned
Curtis' decorates his screenplay with rich comic
bits and we get to see the ones that were cut.
Luckily, all are just as funny as what was left in
the film. Curtis in his introduction to see
segment comments that he ended up having to remove
one long scene for each story to bring the film
closer to the two hour mark. Through the magic of
DVD we get to experience these segments that might
otherwise have been lost on the cutting room
floor. It's a pity that Curtis couldn't
reintegrate most of these scenes back into the
film. While it might have been a long comedy, the
advantage of DVD is the ability to take things in
small doses. Curtis, Hugh Grant and the very funny
Bill Nighy provide an excellent, fun and self
depreciating commentary track. You won't feel the
need to listen to the commentary track right after
the first viewing of the film. Not because it's
bad but because the film is so rich with comic
bits, you'll want to watch it a second time to
catch it all. Nevertheless, the very funny and
frequently cutting commentary track from this trio
makes the film fresh again.
We get a lot of great comic insights and
observations about how the actors and
writer/director Curtis brought it all together and
made it work so well. My recommendation, watch the
film three times. The first time just watch the
feature. The second time watch it and then watch
the cut extras. The third time listen to the
commentary track. By the time you reach your
fourth go round, you'll have an even better
appreciation of how hard it was put together this
amazingly funny film.
I've seen a number of Curtis' films and he
continues to get better as a writer. "Love
Actually" like the best romantic comedies has more
than a grain of truth mixed in with a bit of
emotional pain.. That edge also adds to the power
of the best moments in the film. Every member of
the cast shines and gets their own "moment"
whether it be touching (Laura Linney spending time
with her mentally disturbed brother) or farcical
(any of Bill Nighy's scenes as Billy Mack). |
