*Love Actually* (2003) Full Reaction
Added 2024-12-20 19:26:27 +0000 UTC
Comments
Only one year late, I finally had time to sit down and watch this movie with you! I'm actually under the weather (COVID) and this was a great pick-me-up this afternoon. Just in case you still haven't looked it up, all of the fat jokes about Natalie aren't just "of the times". They were actually a deliberate social commentary by the filmmakers. Martine McCutcheon, her actress, was a major target of British tabloids in the early-'00s. They were fixated on her weight, and there were numerous attacks about her growing fat. So the writers brought the remarks into the story, and had her love interest be completely confused and flummoxed by all of the remarks because WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S FAT!?!?!
JBK405
2025-10-11 00:18:36 +0000 UTCDon't know where you got the idea that the married couple stayed together. My impression was that he had left and was only visiting the kids at the end. But I guess it was left open to interpretation.
Eric Haefele
2024-12-23 17:31:18 +0000 UTCNow you've seen Taylor Swift's favorite movie! Fun reaction! I saw this in the theatre back in the day and it's been a staple every Christmas since. My girlfriend fell asleep 4 years in a row before it finished and last year finally was able to stay awake and finished it and loved it. We're watching it Christmas Eve. Might be the first year I've watched it 2 times :)
Robin Gibbons
2024-12-23 09:17:10 +0000 UTCAll the comments about Natalie's weight reminded me that while Amber Benson(Tara) was on Buffy she reported that she received a lot of hate mail from people saying she was to fat to be on the show. Times were different and people were so judgemental about a woman's weight that they were comfortable saying it like that.
Stephen Knueppel
2024-12-21 13:06:49 +0000 UTCIt’s only 21 years old, but some things have aged a bit. What’s with all the repeated ”funny” remarks about people being chubby, fat etc? Joe, Aurelia’s sister, Natalie. The theme of the man in charge and the woman (or Joe) that works for him, has been a common theme for a long time, and it is a fairytale in many ways. Colin’s silly plotline, Claudia Schiffer turning up, the old singer reaching #1, the girl of the people and the noble man that saves her from her poor surroundings, and so on. And maybe one shouldn’t be too harsh on fairytales for not being up to date. It’s a very enjoyable movie. Still, I wouldn’t mind if some of the comments about Joe and Natalie had been cut. They weren’t really fun 21 years ago either.
borednow
2024-12-21 07:43:23 +0000 UTCSo, I find a lot of these little love stories pretty fucking problematic. They all seem to cram as much romcom bullshit as they can into every little square inch of this movie. The Prime Minister blames Natalie, when the President clearly uses his position to take advantage of her. Mia is positioned as the troublemaker, when Harry clearly makes the choice to step-out on Karen. Sam learns to yearn for Joanna from afar instead of communicating with her--and is rewarded for it. Mark is portrayed as sympathetic for being lovelorn (and creepy) over his best friend's fucking wife. And yet...*sigh*...I also kind of love this movie. The cast is stupidly good. Alan Rickman? Emma Thompson? Come on. Bill Nighy is downright legendary in this--his 'love story' with his manager is easily the best thing here. And the scene with Rowan Atkinson always makes me laugh. Writing this before I watch the reaction, so I'm curious what your thoughts are. Anyway, I'm going to watch this with you. And I'm going to hate it. Except, I'm also kind of love it. And then, I don't know, I'll watch Die Hard or something, to wash the taste out.
Steve Mercier
2024-12-21 01:04:00 +0000 UTCThis is a truly British film, and I have a big soft spot for it. Some of the plotlines work better for me than others, but when it hits it hits. Emma Thompson's performance is the standout; it's so heartbreaking to see her trying to put on a brave face for the sake of her family after her Harry's betrayal. I think it's an important ambiguity that we don't know whether or not he actually slept with Mia - we're in the same position as Karen, unsure how deep the infidelity goes. Unfortunately, Emma was actually cheated on on real life by her then-husband Kenneth Brannagh in the 90's, and it shaped her performance: “I had my heart very badly broken by Ken. So I knew what it was like to find the necklace that wasn’t meant for me. Well, it wasn’t exactly that, but we’ve all been through it...I’ve had so much bloody practice at crying in a bedroom, then having to go out and be cheerful, gathering up the pieces of my heart and putting them in a drawer." I also love the Sarah/Karl story, which I find quite relatable. It's very bittersweet, but I appreciate that the film doesn't shy away from some of the more mundane realities, and in a film about love it's good to have a lot of perspectives on it. Sometimes it doesn't all work out how we dreamed. But Sarah loves her brother, despite the hardship. Liam Neeson and Sam's relationship is so cute and well-acted by both of them. As much fun as they chase through the airport is, the love between stepfather and son is what I enjoy most about their story. I love this film despite its flaws - it's a British classic for good reason 💜
Jordan McLaren
2024-12-21 00:47:34 +0000 UTCNever forgive Alan Rickman for giving that office tart the necklace. #JusticeforEmmaThompson
carly powell
2024-12-20 23:25:51 +0000 UTCAlso it's worth to know that the creators planned to include a scene at the end to reveal that Rowan Atkinson's character is actually an angel, but discarded it because it wouldn't have fit the pacing of the movie.
al mall
2024-12-20 22:46:14 +0000 UTCSome random thing you may not have picked up on: At the funeral Daniel quotes his late wife saying he should bring Claudia Schiffer as his date to the funeral. Mentioned person is one of the ultimate supermodels of the 1990s. When Daniel bumps into the blond woman (Carol) at the airport, 1990s audiences were supposed gasp, because she is played by Ms. Schiffer.
al mall
2024-12-20 22:27:28 +0000 UTCWill check this out sometime over the holiday. Never seen this movie before
James Smith
2024-12-20 19:40:10 +0000 UTCYES such a British classic
Melissa Reynolds
2024-12-20 19:28:29 +0000 UTC
