Movie Talk -- Love Actually (2003)

The film Love Actually begins in an airport at Christmastime, with a scene of family and friends reuniting with hugs, smiles, and kind words. If the film were to be said to have a thesis, the narrator says it straight out during the opening-credits scene:

love actually is all around us.

It is as if love is a magnetic force all around us, drawing us into warm and caring relationships with one another.

Love Actually does not have one main character but an ensemble of protagonists, all of them seeking love in their own awkward ways. Fundamentally, it is a romantic comedy...and a fun one at that. Let's look at three of the main threads of the storyline.

In one thread, David is the new Prime Minister of England. Sparks fly early between him and his servant Natalie. When the brash President of the United States visits, the President makes a couple of passes at Natalie. David catches them in an awkward moment and later -- jealous or heartbroken -- has Natalie transferred to a different department. On Christmas day, he is going through his cards and sees one from her that forces him to drop everything and go seek her out, knocking door to door in the "dogiest" neighborhood in London. They reunite and romance blooms.

In a second thread, a young artist named Mark is percieved as disliking his best friend's new bride Juliette. He never talks to her or gives her any attention. Juliette discovers that underneath the surface he has loving feelings for her, as she watches the video he took from the wedding and all the images he captured focus on her. On Christmas Day, he shows up at her door pretending to be carolers and shows her a series of placards that proffess his true feelings for her. The last one reads:

TO ME YOU ARE PERFECT

Juliette chases him down in the street and gives him one brief kiss on the lips. He smiles and says:

Enough. Enough now.

In a third thread, the thriller novelist Jaime is writing at a French cottage, single after catching his girlfriend cheating. He has a housekeeper named Aurelia, who speaks only Portuguese, and he only speaks English. He drives her home from work every night. When she accidentally causes a portion of his manuscript to blow into the lake one day, they have a romance-kindling moment, as both of them jump into the lake after the pages. Christmastime arrives and they go back to their respective lives without either making a move. But both privately study each others' language. Jaime takes a plane to her country and goes to her home to ask her father for Aurelia's hand in marriage. A huge entourage follows them to the restaurant where she works, and he proposes in disjointed Portuguese in front of everyone there. She accepts.

Love is like a magnetic force, but as we've seen, it requires a leap of faith on the part of the participants.

Love Actually ends where it began, in an airport, with people reuniting. It is a fun and heartwarming movie. If you haven't had time to watch it, I hope you will.