Sunday, December 6, 2015

Love Actually



It's been said how love is hard to find these days. At the same time, it's also no secret how Christmas can be considered as a prime time to find love in even the most awkward and random of places. Set against the backdrop of an old, washed up rocker looking to make a comeback with a holiday re-imagining of his hit song from years ago, nine peoples' stories of love are intertwined. Each person, in the course of four weeks leading up to Christmas Eve, experiences love and romance in a variety of ways.

Love Actually is another one of those films that presents a conundrum for me. On the one hand, I loved the story. It felt genuine without being too much of a gushy, uncomfortably sweet romantic film which would feel more at home on the Hallmark channel rather than a theatrical release. Not to mention, it was surprisingly actually very funny for an R-rated comedy. I haven't seen too many of those lately. On the other hand, there were quite a few scenes where, though partially expected since it is rated R, I felt like the film overall could have been so much better and funnier had it toned down some of the content and had been PG13. For example, one of the characters whose story we watch unfold meets their lover on the set of a porn film. I could think of countless situations that would have been better than that one. I get that the point of Love Actually was how love can be found in the most unexpected places, but as I mentioned, there are a ton of other scenarios which would have been better.

Still, despite these misgivings, I really did enjoy Love Actually overall. I don't know if I will ever watch it again, but I thought it was good seeing it this once. However, I'm still on the fence on whether or not to recommend it.

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