fajrdrako | Love Actually...

I watched Love Actually when it first came out; and I'd forgotten a lot about it, except that it's the only role in which I've really liked Colin Firth (still true).

Emma Thomson (playing Karen) is gorgeous. Makes you feel little sympathy for Harry Bennett, being manipulated into giving Mia the jewellry. He gave his wife a hearbreak she won't get over, and his marriage may flouder, just because he was flattered by Mia's attraction to him. Makes me hope he and his wife sort things out, and fall passionately in love all over again. She was tragical and heroic. (Papier maché lobster heads.)
Are we supposed to wish Juliet (Keria Knightley) would leave Peter for Mark? 'Cause that's what I wished, if only because Peter isn't given much personality. Loved Mark's role - the actor (Andrew Lincoln) had a bunch of scenes but almost no lines.
First time I saw this movie, about seven years ago, my favourite plot was the Prime Minister and his Caterer. This time, I liked it less, if only because Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) didn't do much for me, and the P.M.'s P.A., Annie, was played by Nina Sosanya, an actress I adore with a passionate passion. A romance with Annie would have thrilled me. Or just put Sosanya into McCutcheon's role.
This time around, my favourite plot was that of Daniel (Liam Neeson) and his stepson Sam (Thomas Brodie-Sangster). Sam was brilliant, and Neeson is always brilliant, and I loved the way they worked their way out of depression and into hope by being courageous and inventive.
I liked Thomas Sangster in Doctor Who, too. (He was in "The Family of Blood".)
How fast did Daniel learn Portuguese? Of course his Portuguese wasn't good, but still... that's a fast learning curve. Loved the subtitles with his dialogue with Aurélia.
Didn't understand the plot with Colin Frissell (Kris Marshall) going to Wisconsin. Was it just to give us a boy fantasy to balance out the girl fantasies?
Why haven't we seen Rodrigo Santoro (who played Karl) in a whole bunch of things? He's lovely eye candy here. And that was a sad story, his not-quite-relationship with Sarah (Laura Linney). I wanted to scream at her not to answer the phone, but I suppose it her brother had killed himself, she'd have blamed herself if she hadn't. Still. She put her relationship with her brother before her relationship with Karl, and that doomed it. Personally, I wouldn't have answered the phone.
Martin Freeman's role was aborable.
I always love the scene where the British P.M. stands up to the American President. Yeah, more fantasy.
I love Bill Nighy.
Love the way things come together at the kid's pageant. Also love the framing scenes and theme of people meeting and leaving each other at the airport.