Derecho

Love Actually (2003) |

Reviewed by Nev Pierce
Updated 20 November 2003 | Contains sex scenes and strong language |
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Cynics may be sick, romantics will feel their spirits soar. RichardCurtis returns.
The writer responsible for the biggest British hits of the last ten years - Four Weddings And A Funeral, Notting Hill, Bridget Jones's Diary - directs this vibrant romantic comedy,blending ambition with good sense by filling the profuse parts of his multi-storied script with excellent, experienced actors, and rising young stars.
"BILL NIGHY IS BRILLIANT"
Ten stories intertwine,loosely connected by friends of friends, family and next-door-neighbours. There's the new, bachelor prime minister (Hugh Grant) falling for the teagirl (Martine McCutcheon); his sister (Emma Thompson)suspecting her husband (Alan Rickman) may stray; her mate (Liam Neeson) grieving over his wife's death; his stepson (Thomas Sangster) longing for a girl from school...
The writer (Colin Firth)heartbroken in France; his newlywed friends (Chiwetel Ejiofor and Keira Knightley) whose best man (Andrew Lincoln) acts oddly; their Yank friend (Laura Linney) who wants a beau in Blighty; the sex-starvedBrit (Kris Marshall) heading to the sexed-up United States; his best mate's buddy (Martin Freeman) falling for a pornstar stand-in.
And bestriding it all, Bill Nighy is brilliant as a washed-up RodStewart-alike rock singer, whose coarse cover of the Four Weddings... theme song is climbing the charts towards a seasonal number one: "Christmas," he sings, "is all around."
"A SOFT FOCUS SHORT CUTS"Inevitably, some strands are almost forgotten and actors underused. A soft focus Short Cuts, the movie lacks the layered fluency of Robert Altman's work - or the hard edge. But while there's enoughtreacle to turn a bee diabetic, it is not without raw emotional moments - with Thompson outstanding in a tear-duct tingling scene.
You can almost see Curtis pressing the emotional buttons, but he does...