Contrasting to last week’s review of The Expendables 2, this week’s movie review is the comedy drama Love Actually. Why I make the comparison between this movie and The Expendables movie is that it’s essentially the romantic version of that movie. Big name actors just as a love story rather then explosions. Enough of that though lets get into it.


Love Actually’s story is quite unique as it takes place not with one main character but with a multitude of characters who’s stories all intertwine at some point in time all five weeks before Christmas. Included in this movie is a combination of weird relationships ranging from classic rock star Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) and his passive manager Joe (Gregor Fisher) to the love triangle between Juliet (Keira Knightley), Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Mark (Andrew Lincon) to even Daniel (Liam Neeson) playing wingman to his twelve year old stepson Sam (Thomas Sangster). While some of the love stories end up with a happily ever after ending, some are not quite as fortunate due to cheating husbands and the sort.


This is one of those feel good movies that everyone can see. Without a doubt Love Actually is in fact a chick flick. While it has all the elements of the clique romance and love scenarios, the movie sets itself apart from most other films of it’s genre by not assigning a primary storyline; something that even most modern films don’t abide by. By doing this director Richard Curtis (Bridget Jones’s Diary, Mr. Bean’s Holiday) created a movie with a rather steep curve of story events. Even though the multiple storylines mixed and matched, I found the story a bit tough to follow. While I was completely engrossed in Liam Neeson’s antics of being a wingman to his twelve-year-old stepson, I found other storylines to be unrelated to the entirety of the movie.

Like I said earlier, I think I can compare Love Actually to the popular Expendables movies but just as a chick flick instead of explosions. I still stand by this by just the vast amount of cast members in this movie ranging from Bill Nighy, Rowan Atkinson, Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead). Even with Liam Neeson, using his British accent no less, the movie’s high points are the main attraction to this movie. Alan Rickman is always a welcome addition to any film because, especially in Love Actually. In this film he plays a dirty sleazebag husband, which he pulls off with ease.


Love Actually is a great film for all British actor fans. The inclusion of Martin Freeman (Sherlock, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), and even Keira Knightley pulled a good performance, even though I’m not a fan of her work. If you can keep up with the rapidly changing story and want something heartwarming and cute, Love Actually is the way to go.