This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
All You Need Is Love
Plot Overview
British Prime
Minister David (Hugh Grant) “thinks about the arrivals gate
at Heathrow Airport” to dispel his “gloom with the
state of the world.” Love is “always there,” he
says, “fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and
wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends.” Of
course, unfriendly man-jacks won't be visiting one another, not
even at Christmas, and if they loved each other so much, why did
they move so far away when England is so small? But we're a mobile
society, and this movie gives us some of their back stories.
Has-been
rock 'n' roll singer Billy Mack (Billy Nighy) is recording a
Christmas version of “Love Is All Around.” It's
whitenized with “let it snow” where it used to say
“let it show” although his shirt is a multi-colored
pattern and his backup is both black & white. In another
studio, stand-in body doubles Judy Hogston (Joanna Page) &
John (Martin Freeman) have light meters register their skin
brightness for the camera though they're both equally white as
near as I can tell. At a wedding the white best man Mark (Andrew
Lincoln) and the deep black groom Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) discuss
their disappointment with the Brazilian prostitutes
at the bachelor party—they were men. Mark has Peter attired
in bright turquoise to blend in with his blackness and to glow next
to his radiant white bride Juliet (Keira Knightley.) Juliet later
visits Mark to examine his personal photos of her (“They're all of
me”) at the wedding after she realized the turquoise
iridescence under the light show infringed upon her white gown.
This leads to a belated kissing the bride before she departs with
her husband to matrimonial bliss.
In another subplot grieving widower
Daniel (Liam Neeson) bonds with his stepson Sam (Thomas Sangster)
by coaching him to woo his ten-year-old American classmate Joanna
Anderson (Olivia Olson)—whom he claims to be in love
with—before she departs for America. Sam plays in the band to
accompany her singing at an all-school Christmas pageant. She is
mulatto. Such pairings, of course, would not occur if they
practiced segregation.
Commercial Artist
supervisor Harry has a new secretary Mia (Heike Makatsch) who likes
pretty things and makes a play for him. She lives on the
“dodgy
end” of a ghetto street. Guess what's on her mind.
Writer Jamie Bennett (Colin Firth) asks for his Portuguese housekeeper Aurèlia's (Lucia Moniz) hand in marriage, of her wifebeater wearing, beer-bellied dad Mr. Barros, starting a rumor that father is selling her to an Englishman. Money and matrimony get linked in this picture, redounding to the first couple where there's financial incentive for a black man to marry a white. Young Sam got all his tips from the movies, which we see include porn and are based on trashy books, so where does that leave modern lovers?
Bringing up
the rear is the Prime Minister who used to be handsy with the
broads but has matured since, but not the U.S. President. Santa is
real busy with his naughty and nice list in this picture. The
PM weathers the drama of
a revelation much as in an Allen Chaffee book:
The Captain is, of course, always the last man off, and the skipper of the Cabio, clinging to a mast, caught the second throw and started along the rope himself. He was heavier than some of the others, but he inched along, with the surf reaching white fanged at his dangling legs. Could he make it? He did. (15)
Ideology
Rehearsing the modified for Christmas song Billy can't get the original words (“love”) out of his mind. (Prov. 30:32) “If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.” He had “thought evil” (“This is sh!t, isn't it?”) and must recover his composure (“Solid gold sh!t, maestro.”) and start again.
Jamie leaves his girlfriend (Sienna Guillory) feigning sickness in bed, only to return unexpectedly to find his naughty brother in a compromising position (“Hurry up big boy, I'm naked.”) He left with a trembling lip.
Caterer Colin Frissell (Kris Marshall) hits on the women he serves (“Good morning my future wife”) to be studiously ignored. He insults the food (“A bit dodgy, isn't it?”) while unknowingly talking to the chef (“Looks like a dead baby's finger.”) He seriously put his foot in his mouth.
Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) a new member of the PM's household staff betrays her humble origins by addressing him informally and peppering her speech with profanity. She is hardly mollified (“Did you see what I did?”) by the head housekeeper's assurances (“It's alright.”)
The concerned stepfather tries to fathom (“What's the problem, Samuel?”) what's eating his stepson (“I'm in love.”) The dad “thought it would be something worse,” but Sam counters, “Worse than the total agony of being in love?” The dad admits, “No, you're right.”
When Harry gets busted by his wife Karen (Emma Thompson) for buying
jewelry for another woman, he says, “Oh, God! I am so in the wrong, a
classic fool.” The jewelry salesman Rufus (Rowan
Atkinson) didn't know the meaning of quick while
wrapping it in the wife's temporary absence.
Colin returns from a fool's errand to America with a babe Harriet
(Shannon Elizabeth) in tow. Harriet's sister Carla
(Denise Richards) takes an immediate liking to Colin's black friend
Tony (Abdul Salis.) Tony is a realist unlikely to accept a
prolonged interest in his ugly mug.
The single and alone on Christmas Eve Prime Minister shows some
finesse ("A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do") responding to an
inviting card, sending him out on a mission. He makes excuses
knocking on the wrong doors until he finds the right one.
Multilingual writer Jamie who
doesn't know the Portuguese his housekeeper speaks has the
opposite problem as everybody else. As indicated by subtitles
the two of them are always on the same page, completing each
other's thoughts even. No mistakes but no communication, either.
Language schools might be their remedy.
Production Values
“” (2003) was written and directed by Richard Curtis. It stars Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon and Liam Neeson. The all-star cast was pretty funny. Rowan Atkinson, notorious as the inimitable Mr. Bean, was hilarious here. Supermodel Claudia Schiffer played Carol the parent of another of Sam's school mates.
MPA rated it R for sexuality, nudity and language. The black back nudity at an art gallery gets laughed at by some wiseacre juveniles. The camera is mercifully reserved for all the kissing at reunions, weddings, and Xmas. Age takes its toll. Runtime is 2¼ hours.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
Colin talks the talk (“Praise the Lord!”) but doesn't walk the walk (“And he's a Christian,”) heading to an orgy backlit in silhouette.
If love covers a multitude of sins, it can have at it here. The manger scene toys with convention. Kids are in the movie and play but shouldn't be in the audience. The movie is funny but not saccharine.
Movie Ratings
Action Factor: Weak action scenes. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day. Suspense: A few suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Five stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture was cited from the King James Version, Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Chaffee, Allen. Heroes of the Shoals. Copyright © 1935 by Henry Holt and Company, Inc. New York: Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1937. Print.
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