Love is All You Need

Continuing in my "25 Christmas Movies" of December, I move on to a movie that has become a new holiday tradition for me.

Love, Actually intertwines the lives of several Londoners in the weeks leading up to Christmas. David (Hugh Grant) is the new prime minister who falls in love with a member of his staff, Natalie (Martine McCutcheon). His sister, Karen (Emma Thompson) is trying to console her friend Daniel after the death of his wife and help with his stepson Sam (Thomas Sangster). Karen's husband, Harry (Alan Rickman), has enough of love at his office. One employee, Sarah (Laura Linney), is desperately in love with another, Karl (Rodrigo Santoro), but afraid to make a move due to family obligations while Harry's secretary, Mia (Heike Makatsch), is flirting with him. Mia's friend, Mark (Andrew Lincoln) is trying to keep himself together though is in love with his best friend's (Chiwetel Ejiofor) girl (Keira Knightley). After their wedding, Jamie (Colin Firth) discovers his girlfriend cheating on him with his brother and goes into the French countryside to finish his book. There, he meets his Portuguese housekeeper Aurelia (Lucia Moniz). Meanwhile, wedding caterer Colin (Kris Marshall) decides to go to America to get laid. His friend Tony (Abdul Salis) is against the idea as he continues to work on a film. During the arguments, two of Tony's stand ins, John and Judy (Martin Freeman and Joanna Page) fall in love. And all of this is cut between aging rocker Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) trying to reignite his career with a number one Christmas single--"Christmas is All Around."

Phew! While the plot seems to be difficult to follow on paper, director Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral) weaves them all so that they aren't as confusing on film. Mr. Curtis also wrote the script and tells some timeless stories of love: forbidden, unrequited, love-at-first-sight, first love, true love mixed in with betrayal, hard work, and tears. The cast is top notch--Firth, Grant, McCutcheon, Thompson, Rickman and Linney are especially to be commended. Sangster is also a screen stealer, even for his young age, as the precocious and in-love Sam. The scenes between him and on-screen father Neeson are some of the most touching in the movie.

The shots are wonderful--London at Christmas time. Once again the soundtrack is complementary to the stories and back grounds. And it reminds us all what Christmas is about: Love. So, four and a half candy canes. (It loses a half candy cane for not really revealing certain characters' post-Christmas fates).