Date night again and I took Debbie to see “Love Actually”. What a great movie!!!!!!! Much better than Notting Hill. More intergenerational, more multi-layered, a weaving together of well developed stories and characters that is an amazing piece of workmanship. How did they manage to pack that all in in 2 hours?????? And the message is LOVE. (not recommending it . . just saying we watched it)
Love Actually
I thought the message was LUST?
Hey Jonathan…I’m sure you’re kidding, but I’ve had several people tell me the say the same to me. Usually I tell them that if you saw the movie and thought that was the message, then you missed it.
Context and perspective are everything–and even in the most immediately provocative scene, the characters remained wholly indifferent to sexual appetite. Thrust into the awkwardness of nakedness without relationship, they found a connection that transcended their situation. And I thought it was great that the screenwriters wrote “we’re married and now we can finally ‘shag’ into the script to punctuate that clearly. The main portrayal of lust was not in the nudity, but was instead in the married man that begins to contemplate cheating on his wife, though he never does–showing that the unseen acts of human brokeness is uglier and more damaging than the situations that should shock us to view. Though lust moves us in the moment, it pales in comparison to real love. One destroys and hurts, the other heals and inspires.
Sorry for preaching… I’ve just had far too many conversations with people lately that’ve missed entirely the beauty of this flic because of knee-jerk reactions.
Andrew–LOVED the movie, and I’ve now taken my wife twice. Glad you enjoyed it.
Jared
I was actually really disappointed because I was expecting a romcom, and had hoped for reasonable character development. The speed at which Liam Neeson gets over the death of his wife illustrates how shallow the script was.
The body doubles relationship was interesting, but unfortunately the emphasis was placed on cheap laughs. I thought Emma Thompson was good, very moving and believable.
Andrew, on your recommendation I shall take my wife to see it while we’re in Wellington for the weekend.
Paul – just make sure and don’t lust after her. Wati, what the hell am I saying – please, please on your 10th anniversary, lust after your wife!
Thanks Jonathan…I disagree on the quality of the screenplay and character development, but appreciate your willingness to discuss your thoughts and your openness in doing so.
I definitely aggree with you on Emma’s performance (she and I are on a first name basis).