The British Film Industry (aka Richard Curtis) has been doing pretty well by knocking out “Hugh Grant vs a Pretty American” films for ten years now. The new one, Love Actually, looks a bit different, partly due to the decision to do without the big American co-star (Laura Linney being a poor substitute starwise for Andie MacDowell, Julia Roberts or Renée Zellweger, though possibly a better actress).
The filmmakers seem over-anxious to assure us that this is still Best of British/Those Wacky Limeys, to the point that the first 30 seconds of the trailer are clips from Four Weddings, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’ Diary. The cast is equally overegged: the new (Keira Knightley), the old (Bill Nighy), and a lot of the usual suspects (Thompson, Firth, Rickman and of course Atkinson). And they’ve all got equal billing in what’s worryingly subtitled “The Ultimate Romantic Comedy”. You will like it. You will!
The annoying thing is, you probably will. Everyone involved seems to be doing what they do best, and five seconds at the end with Hugh Grant indicate he can still just make Funny out of nothing. Like some sort of actor or something.
(it’s not clear whether the name change to Love Actually Is All Around is “remember the good times” gone mad, or just a practical joke played on the IMDB).