Love Actually
Love Actually is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The film features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous projects. An international co-production of the United Kingdom, United States and France, it was mostly filmed on location in London. The film delves into different aspects of love as shown through 10 separate stories involving a variety of individuals, many of whom are interlinked as the plot progresses. The story begins five weeks before Christmas and is played out in a weekly countdown until the holiday, followed by an epilogue that takes place in the New Year.
The film, Curtis's first as director, was released in the US on 14 November 2003 and a week later in the UK during its theatrical run. Love Actually was a box-office success, grossing $250.2million worldwide on a budget of $40–45million. The film received mixed reviews and a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. In recent years, it has developed a cult following, and is often a staple film shown during the Christmas period in both the United Kingdom and United States. A made-for-television short sequel, Red Nose Day Actually, aired in two different versions on BBC One and NBC in 2017, as part of the fundraising event Red Nose Day 2017.
Plot
A voice-over opens the film, commenting that whenever the narrator gets gloomy about the state of the world, he thinks of the arrivals gate at London Heathrow Airport, and the pure and uncomplicated love of lovers, friends and families welcoming their loved ones. He also points out that the messages from the 9/11 victims were messages of love and not hate. The story then switches among the interconnecting "love stories" of many people:Billy Mack and Joe
With his long-time manager Joe, rock and roll legend Billy Mack records a Christmas version of the Troggs' 1967 song "Love Is All Around", titling it "Christmas Is All Around". Although believing the record is terrible, Mack promotes the release in the hope it will become the Christmas number-one single, which it does. He forgoes a victory party hosted by Elton John to celebrate Christmas with Joe, since he realised that Christmas was the time to be with the people one loved. Billy then confesses to Joe that he turned out to be the love of his life. After hugging each other, Billy suggests that they get drunk and watch porn.Juliet, Peter, and Mark
The wedding of Juliet and Peter is videotaped by the best man, Mark, where a surprise band plays the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" as they walk out of the church. Although Juliet believes Mark dislikes her, he is actually in love with her.When he evades her requests to see the video he shot at the wedding, she shows up at his flat. Juliet insists she wants them to be friends, but when she views the wedding video Mark recorded, she sees many extreme close-ups of herself and few of Peter's face. She realises Mark's true feelings towards her. After an uncomfortable silence, Mark blurts out that he acts coldly toward her out of "self-preservation."
On Christmas Eve, Juliet answers the doorbell to find Mark carrying a boombox playing a Christmas carol and large cue cards. While Peter is inside watching television, Mark shows a message of his love to Juliet through a series of cue cards. As he walks away down the street, Juliet runs after him, gives him a quick kiss, and returns inside. Mark walks away, uttering "Enough", to imply he can move on and be content as friends.
Jamie and Aurélia
Writer Jamie is pushed by his girlfriend to attend Juliet and Peter's wedding alone because she is ill. He returns before the reception to check on her, discovering she is having sex with his younger brother. Crushed, Jamie withdraws to his French cottage, where he meets Portuguese housekeeper Aurélia, who does not speak English. Despite not sharing a common language, a mutual attraction grows.Jamie returns to the United Kingdom, realises he is in love with Aurélia and begins learning Portuguese. He returns to Marseille, France, to find her and ends up walking through town with her father and sister, gathering additional people as they walk to her waitressing job. In basic, and often grammatically incorrect, Portuguese, he declares his love for her and proposes. She says yes in broken English, showing she too had been studying English "just in cases", as the crowd erupts in applause.
Harry, Karen, and Mia
Harry is the managing director of a design agency. Mia is his secretary. Harry is married to Karen, a stay-at-home mother. They have two children, Bernard and Daisy. Mia behaves in an overtly sexual way with him at the office and asks him for a Christmas present. At the company Christmas party held at Mark's gallery, they dance closely.Before Christmas shopping at a department store, Harry calls Mia and asks what she wants for Christmas. He is almost caught by his wife purchasing an expensive necklace with a gold heart pendant from the jewellery department when the salesman, Rufus, takes an inordinate amount of time to wrap it. Later, Karen finds the necklace in Harry's coat pocket and assumes it is for her. Opening a similarly shaped box on Christmas Eve, she is heartbroken to find it is a Joni Mitchell CD, realises he bought the necklace for someone else, and cries in their bedroom alone. She keeps a happy face so as not to ruin her family's holiday. She later confronts Harry and asks what he would do if he were her. She feels he has made a mockery of their marriage and of her. Harry comes clean and admits that he has been foolish.
David and Natalie
David, Karen's brother and the recently elected Prime Minister, is single. Natalie is a new junior member of the household staff at 10 Downing Street. During a meeting with the US President, they pass Natalie, and the president makes inappropriate comments to David about her. Later, David walks in on Natalie who is serving tea and biscuits to the president, and finds him kissing her. Natalie seems embarrassed, and the president has a sly grin on his face. At the followingjoint press conference, David is uncharacteristically assertive while taking a stand against the president's intimidation techniques.
Feeling uncomfortable around Natalie, David has her moved to another position. He is spurred to action on Christmas Eve when he finds a Christmas card from her in his red box, declaring that she is his and only his. He finds her after a door-to-door search of her street. Her entire family is on their way to a multi-school Christmas play, and he offers to drive them so he can talk to her. As Natalie sneaks him into the school, he runs into his heartbroken sister, Karen, who believes he is there for his niece and nephew. As David and Natalie try to keep from being seen and watch from backstage, they finally kiss. Everyone sees them kissing as the back-cloth is raised.
Daniel, Sam, Joanna, and Carol
Daniel, Karen's close friend, mourns the recent death of his wife, Joanna, as he tries to care for his stepson Sam. Sam has fallen for an American classmate, also named Joanna, and after talking with his stepfather, decides to learn the drums to accompany her in the big finale of their school's Christmas pageant at Karen and Harry's children's school.Sam feels he has missed his chance to impress her, but Daniel convinces him to try to tell Joanna how he feels at the airport before she returns to the US. Sam slips through airport security and catches up with her. She acknowledges him by name, which surprises him. Sam returns to Daniel to tell him, and Joanna follows him, surprising him again, and kisses him on the cheek.
A subplot in this storyline involves Daniel stating a few times his wish to date Claudia Schiffer. Eventually, Daniel meets Carol, played by Claudia Schiffer, who is the mother of Sam's schoolmate, and there is a mutual spark.