MovieChat Forums > Love Actually (2003) Discussion > 7/10, too much dead weight

7/10, too much dead weight

posted 7 years ago by Legendary_Badass
11 replies | jump to latest

Watched on Christmas night for the first time. There are several storylines I enjoyed, but being that it's over long and several of the threads don't tie together convincingly, the movie has problems. The three biggest offenders are:

1) John and Just Judy
I don't see their story as cute, romantic, funny, or plausible. So we take it they're body doubles. How's either going to feel when working with another performer? Do either even have a personality? The effort to tie them into the rest of the group is also below par. If anything this couple should have broken up by the movie's end.

2) Colin
You've got to be kidding me. British guy lands in Wisconsin and magically picks up ALL of the attractive women in the entire state, instantly. No sadistic catch? This actually happens. Totally unrealistic.

3) Jamie and Aurelia
Here's an oddity. I felt this was one of the best stories in the movie, however it had the weakest connective sinew. The only link is presented at the end when it is revealed that Jamie is friends with Peter and Mark... during the super convenient airport scene in which nearly the entire cast just so happens to have gathered. Despite having the least connectivity, this was a fairly touching story that would have been better served at the forefront of its own film where adequate development could take place. As is, it feels shortchanged.

With these removed, the rest of the movie holds a stronger, tighter nucleus with characters who directly interact throughout. The exception being Billy Mack who, as a celebrity, has the freedom to interact indirectly through TV and radio.

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[–] louiseculmer 7 years ago

This just shows you can't please everybody. i like the body doubles and the james and Aurelia stories. the one i hated was the stepfather/stepson one, i'd get rid of that. the soppy girl with the mentally ill brother irritated me as well. You can't seem to get rid of any story from this film without disappointing someone.

[–] CharlotteGoldenblatt 7 years ago

I agree with numbers 1 and even 2, but Jamie attended peter's wedding at the beginning of the film so the airport scene is not the only connection.

[–] Legendary_Badass 7 years ago

I'll take your word for it. I may have missed it, though Firth's first scene was leaving home to head to the country. Still puts him in a situation where he's not readily interacting with the rest. Maybe all it would take to make for a strong story would be to ditch the airport coda so that every story line has a different ending point and avoid the contrived wrap-up.

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[–] Suzume-san 7 years ago

Yeah, he's in the first scene, he left his girlfriend in bed with a bad cold, while he went to the wedding, and came back to find her in bed with his brother, more or less.

I think it's fun, the way everybody is interconnected. The film's a comedy fantasy, of course, but that sort of thing happens all the time in London, far more often than you might expect.

[–] mwmtampa 7 years ago

And conversely, I enjoyed all the sub-plots save for the one with Bill Nighy.

Boring, stupid, and atrociously bad.

[–] louiseculmer 7 years ago

bill nighy was my favourite by far.

[–] Sugarminx 7 years ago

There are parts of this film that I really enjoy but the annoying/boring storylines outweigh the watchable elements.

The worst is that damned idiot that wants to bang American broads. Then the insipid step father and precocious kid; the pointless body doubles and the beyond frustrating woman with the brother in hospital - turn your bloody phone off for an hour if you're about to shag the man you've been lusting after for two years! Sheesh! It's not rocket science.

If her brother wasn't being taken care of in a hospital I could understand her vigilance, but characters who are into needless self-flagellation are just tiresome. That storyline was particularly unbelievable.

It's a fine film of you've recorded it and can f/f through the dreck.

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[–] snelling 7 years ago

The whole thing was pretty contrived.

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[–] Dreamsville 7 years ago

The whole thing was pretty contrived.

Exactly.

The only storyline I really liked was Bill Nighy's storyline, which had fresh characters, sharp and funny writing, and some real imagination to it. I wouldn't have minded seeing a whole movie just about Billy Mack and his manager and their exploits.

All the other stories were contrived, unrealistic scenarios and/or lame cliches.

[–] snelling 7 years ago

I did like the cute little boy thinking he was in love and the "fat" secretary was actually (ha ha) great-looking to me.

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[–] Dainty (1863) 3 years ago

Your rating is much too charitable from how you described it.