"Love Actually" Movie Review

"Love Actually" movie poster.

"Set almost entirely in London, England during five frantic weeks before Christmas follows a web-like pattern of inter-related, loosely related and unrelated stories of a dozen or more various individuals with their love lives, or lack of them. The central character is the new bachelor prime minister David (Hugh Grant) who cannot express his growing feelings for his new personal assistant Natalie (Martine McCutcheon). The prime minister's older sister Karen (Emma Thompson) slowly grows aware of her husband Harry's (Alan Rickman) flirtation with an office worker named Mia (Heike Makatsch). Karen's friend Daniel (Liam Neeson) is a recently widowed writer whose 11-year-old son (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) asks for love advice about a girl he has a crush on. Meanwhile, Jamie (Colin Firth) is another writer who leaves his girlfriend (Sienna Guillory) after catching her cheating on him and travels to France to write a novel where he pursues a possible romance with his non-English speaking Portuguese maid Aurelia (Lucia Moniz). Also, Harry's American secretary Sarah (Laura Linney) questions a romance she pursues with the office hunk Karl (Rodrigo Santoro), but her personal family problems get in the way. Other secondary characters involve a photographer (Andrew Lincoln) who pursues his best friend's new wife Juliet (Keira Knightley); a pair of movie stand-ins, named John (Martin Freeman) and Judy (Joanna Page), who grow closer after their simulated love scenes; a libidinous chum (Kris Marshall) who wants to travel to Wisconsin, USA to score with women; and a burned-out former rock star named Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) who is the main connection between all stories involved." Written by Matt Patay (Link below.)

Rowan Atkinson.

I love this movie! It has everything in it! It is witty and funny yet realistic and it covers all aspects of any relationship: the cheating spouse, the awkward first meeting (specifically if you work as a sex-scenes body double), loving someone you can't have because she's in love with your best friend, loving someone whom you don't understand because you don't speak the same language, and the finding of a new love after the death of an old one.

Written and directed by Richard Curtis, it has a splendid cast of the best British actors around: Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Keira Knightley, Emma Thompson, Rowan Atkinson/Mr. Bean, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Martine McCutcheon, Thomas Sangster, Kris Marshall, etc. Oh, and Billy Bob Thorton does his best impression of Bill Clinton as he is playing the president.

Between wrapping the presents, taking the kids to the Christmas pageant (where there is more than one lobster present at the birth of Jesus Christ!) and pulling your hair out in frustration, you should sit down with some hot cocoa and watch this great movie!

Script can be read here: http://withmusics.blogspot.com/2008/12/love-actually-script.html.

(Back row, L to R) Colin Firth, Bill Nighy, Hugh Grant, Laura Linney, and Liam Neeson.
(Front row, L to R) Keira Knightley, Martine McCutcheon, Alan Rickman, and Emma Thompson.

Favorite Lines:

Prime Minister: Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around.

Juliet: I thought I might be able to swap it for some pie or... or maybe Munchies?
Mark: Actually, I was being serious. I don't know where it is. I'll have a poke around tonight...
Juliet: Mark, can I say something?
Mark: Yeah.
Juliet: I know you're Peter's best friend and I know you've never particularly warmed to me. Look, don't... don't argue. We've never got friendly. But I just wanted to say, I hope that can change. I'm nice. I really am. Apart from my terrible taste in pie and... It would be great if we could be friends.
Mark: Absolutely.
Juliet: Great.
Mark: Doesn't mean we'll be able to find the video, though. I had a real search when you first called and couldn't any trace of it, so...
Juliet: Well, there's one here that says "Peter and Juliet's Wedding". Do you think we might be on the right track?

Jamie: Er... Would you like the last, uh...?
Aurelia: [in Portuguese] Thank you very much, but no.
Jamie: No?
Aurelia: [in Portuguese] If you saw my sister, you'd understand why.
Jamie: That's all right, more for me.
Aurelia: [in Portuguese] Just don't go eating it all yourself, you're getting chubbier every day.
Jamie: I'm very lucky, I've got one of those constitutions where I never put on weight.

[John is rehearsing a raunchy sex scene with his hands on Judy's breasts]
John: It's Junction 13 that's just murder, isn't it? Total gridlock this morning.

Prime Minister: I'm very jealous of your plane, by the way.
The President: Oh, thank you. We love that thing, I'll tell ya.

Daniel: Tell her that you love her.
Sam: No way! Anyway, they fly tonight.
Daniel: Even better! Sam, you've got nothin' to lose, and you'll always regret it if you don't! I never told your mom enough. I should have told her everyday because she was perfect everyday. You've seen the films, kiddo. It ain't over 'til its over.
Sam: Okay, Dad. Let's do it. Let's go get the shit kicked out of us by love.

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314331/plotsummary and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314331/quotes.

"The Iron Lady" Movie Review

"The Iron Lady" movie poster.

"Biopic of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep, with a younger version played by Alexandra Roach), the United Kingdoms first female Prime Minister. Now elderly and senile, Thatcher spends much of her time in conversation with her husband Denis (Jim Broadbent, with younger version played by Harry Lloyd), who is dead. Interspersed with her everyday life are snippets of her life and political career. The middle class daughter of a grocer (Iain Glen), she obtained a good degree and developed an interest in politics. She was first elected in 1959 and quickly developed a reputation for dealing with difficult issues and showing herself more than capable of taking on her male counterparts in the House of Commons. As Prime Minister, she takes on the very powerful unions seeing her popularity plummet until her patriotic response to Argentina's invasion of the Falkland islands leads to her re-election. In the longer term, her rigid approach with her colleagues leads to her downfall and the Conservative party ousts her from the leadership." Written by garykmcd (Link below.)

Meryl Streep running the House of Commons.

Meryl Streep (with help from her makeup and hair artist, J. Roy Helland), was amazing. And I don't think anyone would ever know that she wasn't as British as all of the other cast members, weren't she not so famous. Although I don't think I would've agreed with her character's policies, it was inspiring to see someone so strong in such adversity. What ups and downs, Thatcher was incredible and I can't help but compare it to the way people view President Obama. It's like people forget it's a very difficult job running a country. I mean the IRA must've been a bitch to deal with, let alone all of the other regular law-making.

And I must thank the people involved with making this film for making Alexander Haig (Matthew Marsh) look like an ass, because he was. (Even though I'm an American, that part about Hawaii made me laugh.) When President Reagan was shot, instead of concerning himself about whether the President was alive or not, Mr. Haig proceeded to say that he was in charge and he was very much wrong in that regard. Though at the time he held the position of United States Secretary of State, which is very high in power, there were still four other people that would've had to die or resign from their positions before he could even suggest he was in charge. And while he was White House Chief of Staff, he suggested to President Nixon to seize control of the army rather than be impeached or resign from office following the Watergate scandal. He's a peach; good old Al.

Jim Broadbent (L) and Meryl Streep.

The only problem I could have with this film, is that they didn't show enough of her rising to the top. But I imagine that could've gotten tedious.

The clothing was marvelous. The director, Phyllida Lloyd (what a pretty name!), did an excellent job. The flashbacks weren't too much to handle. It's a long and interesting life to put in one movie and I feel as though they have done a great job.

Script can be accessed here: http://www.simplyscripts.com/2012/01/05/the-iron-lady-for-your-consideration/.

Favorite Lines:

Margaret Thatcher: It used to be about trying to do something. Now it's about trying to be someone.

Margaret Thatcher: Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become... habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny! What we think we become.

Alexander Haig: So you are proposing to go to war over these islands. They're thousands of miles away, a handful of citizens, politically and economically insignificant, if you'll excuse me.
Margaret Thatcher: Just like Hawaii... I imagine.

Margaret Thatcher: Where did you go?
Denis Thatcher: South Africa.
Margaret Thatcher: Ah, yes.
Denis Thatcher: How many days passed before you realized I'd gone? Probably had to ask the cleaning woman where I was.

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1007029/plotsummary and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1007029/quotes.