Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
xx
Fantastic Mr. Fox
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
After the Storm
66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
66
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Love Actually

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 42 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 110 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama | Romance
Written by: Richard Curtis
Directed by: Richard Curtis
Release Date:
Theatrical: November 7, 2003
DVD: April 27, 2004
Running Time: 128 minutes, Color
Origin: UK
Summary
RATING: R for sexuality, nudity and language
Starring Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Bill Nighy, Keira Knightley, Martine McCutcheon, and Rowan Atkinson
This ultimate romantic comedy weaves together a spectacular number of love affairs into one amazing story. (Universal Pictures)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie's only flaw is also a virtue: It's jammed with characters, stories, warmth and laughs, until at times Curtis seems to be working from a checklist of obligatory movie love situations and doesn't want to leave anything out.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
A roundly entertaining romantic comedy, Love Actually is still nearly as cloying as it is funny its cheeky wit, impossibly attractive cast and sure-handed professionalism are beguiling.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
It's not so much the individual storylines that grab you, but Curtis unrelenting optimism. In the end, it's nice to know that love, actually, does conquer all.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Love Actually is irresistible. You'd have to be Ebenezer Scrooge not to walk out smiling.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Appealing and genial with plenty of solid laughs, and worthy of a recommendation for those who appreciate this kind of thing. Just don't expect material that's edgy, dark, or challenging. Consider Love Actually the antidote to "Mystic River."
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
It's a toasty, star-packed ensemble comedy in which a handful of lonelyhearts attempt, with some success, to come out of their shells, and it's going to make a lot of holiday romantics feel very, very good; watching it, I felt cozy and charmed myself.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
The biggest surprise in the cheery, delightful Love Actually is its lively, edgy, slightly blue sense of humor.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
At times soppy, sentimental and shamelessly romantic, at other moments bursting with clever barbs -- and now and then zooming in on something telling and poignant -- Love Actually is just about impossible to dislike.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Schickel
Enough of Curtis' lovably crazed characters do succeed in finding love in all the unlikely places that you leave the theater with your heart humming happily. He has his dark -- well, darkish -- side under control. Which is to say that he is an Englishman, well practiced in masking pain and absurdity and descents into sheer goofiness with mannerly behavior, sly irony and stiff upper lips.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Provides enough happy endings to make the audience forget that romance and Christmas miracles don't always work out.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
Reminds you of an elaborate Christmas card that tumbles apart with pop-up figures, silly/charming greetings and perhaps even a jingle. It probably cost more than the gift it heralds, and you can't help but laugh at the audacity of such an aggressively cheerful card.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Frequently funny, generally fizzy and occasionally piercingly perceptive about the price love exacts.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
Mind you, there's lots to like, if not love, in this London-set, star-studded comedy. Unfortunately, there's a little bit to hate, too.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
This is cloying, deceitful, and more or less irresistible.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
If youre going to have your emotional responses shunted around like a gear stick, it might as well be by someone who writes dialogue as funny as Curtis does.
Read Full Review >The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
The film is in one sense lifelike: in order to get the good, we have to endure the lesser.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
The film is an audience-pleaser, but very calculated and far from Curtis' best work: His script will go to any lengths to be cute, and his direction tends to be overly broad. In the end, he wears us out with the sheer volume of witty and endearing characters.
Read Full Review >New York Post Jonathan Foreman
By far the best single performance in the film - and it is really, really terrific, utterly believable and moving - is by Emma Thompson. To the extent that there is genuine feeling in the movie that doesn't feel slickly manipulative, it's in the scenes involving her character.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Structurally, Love Actually is less like "Four Weddings" than it is "Scary Movie 3." Curtis throws every gag he can think of at the screen and the ones that don't stick, he throws again and again.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Overall, it pushes its "love is good" message with such insistence, so many cheery pop tunes, airport hugs, coincidences and teary smiles, that it feels like one long commercial. Surely love is a desirable enough commodity that it doesn't require such a hard sell.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
Charming, if terribly overstuffed, vision of romantic London gridlock.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
It's too florid, too calculated, too too. Here's my emotional declaration: I love Richard Curtis' work. But I can't help feeling that the Bard of Embarrassment could use a touch more shame.
Read Full Review >Empire Caroline Westbrook
Its a formula that works and, as crowd-pleasing mainstream Britcom goes, its a relatively solid, if flawed, entry into the genre.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Though it would be dishonest to call this an unqualified success, it would be churlish not to tip the hat to Love Actually's genuine charm.
Read Full Review >Newsweek David Ansen
Alternately beguiling and bloated, witty and warmed over, smart and pandering. The majority is likely to swoon; the minority will squirm their way through it.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky
Feels less like a brand-new movie than a greatest-hits compendium. It offers nothing new and instead makes do with presenting the warmed-over like something pulled fresh from the oven.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Stina Chyn
A lot goes on in Love Actually. This over-abundance of human traffic is the films primary weakness. There are too many characters and not all of the stories are equally developed.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan
Sometimes complicated, sometimes incredibly simple, the film explicates or fawns over the human condition with occasional charm and poignancy but too often it's just cloying.
Read Full Review >Premiere Glenn Kenny
There were times watching this movie when I felt I was being force-fed 30 pounds of crème brûlée. Which isnt to say I choked on every minute: I chortled heartily at the thread about the comeback of the washed-up rock star (Bill Nighy).
Read Full Review >Film Threat Chris Barsanti
Ultimately, when Love Actually pulls out all the stops, which it does at least three times during the final smorgasbord of climaxes, it can be well nigh irresistible.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Mark Caro
The movie grows more cloying and repetitive as it stretches well beyond two hours. Almost every main character boasts the same bashful, puppy-dog attitude toward romance.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Curtis ladles sugar over the eager-to-please Love Actually to make it go down easy, forgetting that sometimes it just makes you gag.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
When he isn't overreaching for absurdity, Curtis can write bouncy patter, but each character gets about 60 seconds before the movie jumps deck to the next love-seeker and the next moony pratfall.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine Peter Rainer
Cloying as much of this stuff is, it's not cynical. Curtis seems genuinely convinced that love is all around. Far be it from me to say otherwise. We dont speak the same language.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer
Abandons any pretext of sophistication for gloppy sentimentality, sugary pop songs and bawdy humor -- an approach that works about half the time.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
If you feel yourself glowing after Love Actually, you might be suffering from sugar shock.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
I would have hated Love Actually less if it had been a total, clumsy disaster; the problem is that Curtis does pull off some amazingly well-tuned moments, as well as some very funny ones.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
If listing the cast of Love Actually is exhausting, it's even more tiring to watch it.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
What's the message: that women must remain vigilant about poundage to keep husbands from chasing taut-thighed secretaries? That's a charitable Christmas thought.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
A romantic comedy-drama has to make sense, though, and Love Actually doesn't, actually.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
A patchwork of contrived naughtiness and forced pathos...The loose ends are neatly tied up, as they are when you seal a bag of garbage -- or if you prefer, rubbish.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Gets to be dislikable in its glib feelgoodness. The movie's many excellent actors do too much acting with too little conviction in scenes that rush through perfunctory setups to deliver pat payoffs.
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 110 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
T. M. gave it a1:
I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible. I want that 2 1/2 (!) hours of my life back. Friends whose taste I trust actually recommended this piece of crap to me. Just to start ... I don't think even in America could someone has idiotic as Hugh Grant's character be elected to lead the country. If Laura Linney's character liked her hunky co-worker so much, why the hell didn't she turn off her' cellphone when she finally lured him to her bed? (And her storyline was left hanging.) Why did the subplot with Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman seem to be about humiliating Emma's character? Why did Keira Knightly marry the black guy if she really wanted the other guy? And how convenient that in a huge city like London, all the children iin the story went to the same school. The movie's music was horrible, especially the little girl who was forced to sing like an American Idol reject. Were they going for the absurd when the so-so looking guy went to America and was overwhelmed with attention from prospective Playboy playmates? And the oh-so-cuteness of Colin Firth's character's and the maid's trying to communicate. The porn star body-double couple hardly had a story. But then, the stars of the movie hardly had a story. Hugh Grant's dancing-in-his underwear/"Risky Business" ripoff was unforgivable, as was the misogyny of the middle-aged men ending up with women half their ages who had been their servants.
Liz T gave it a9:
Isn't this comment website suppose to be opinionated? If you like the movie, that is great, if you don't, well that is how you just see it. There isn't any need to say things that you have lost your respect for people, becasue it is jsut a movie, it doesn't mean anything. But on the otehr hand, i did like this movie, it was hilarious. A downer i thought of the movie is that i really saw how the creators, directors or whoever TRIED to make some of the characters seem funnier than they really were. But i would like to ask ANYONE who knew what the music was called when the Prime Minister and the President were in a Press Confrence and the Prime Minister was stating that he will not tolerate the Presidents 'bullying' towards the the PM.
Michael J. gave it a10:
The occasional overdone moments are far outweighed by the heart touching warmth of this film. If you are looking for a deep dredging of of the human soul read Kafka or watch The Pianist. This is a light hearted reminder of some of the joy of life. And what's wrong with that? A good example of why one shouldn't listen to critics.
[Anonymous] gave it a9:
This movie has to be taken with a grain of salt. I mean I am an avid movie fan and I usually am pretty hard on films, however this is just a film of escape. It is very feel good. The difference between it and it's American cousins is that it actually includes some clever humor and isn't afraid to do so to such extent it receives an R rating. It is just fun and feel good and if it isn't your cup of tea, I suppose that is your right, however don't degrade the film for that reason. To each his own, but on merit, this film, compared to many of it's counterparts deserves more credit. It is just feel good fun, only done better than it normally is here in the States. Lighten up people.
Angela gave it an8:
I think most of these postings fail to take into consideration one of the prime motivations for going to the movies: escape. The film is, admittedly, fluffy but I don't know that Curtis was out to make Citizen Kane. It's a romantic comedy, a genre not particularly well known for its grounded realism. (And furthermore, why is it the case that only crushing hearbreak is considered "real"? Have none of you been in love?) Ultimately, I'm most disappointed in my peer-reviewers disillusionment. Perhaps this jaded perspective speaks more to your personal experiences than the film in question and I just think that's terribly sad.
Michael L. gave it a5:
I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances--Emma Thompson, Laura Linney and Bill Nighy among them. But, my God, what a maudlin mish-mash of overbaked optimism! I loved the film best when reality took over--which was all too rare: Linney's hopeless romance, Collin Firth walking away from his linguistically-challenged infatuation. Thompson's initial heartbreak. It was real, bittersweet, and true. When I had to suffer through yet another bumbling romantic performance by Hugh Grant (who, besides Americans, would elect someone this idiotic to their land's highest office?), a school play that looked like the finale of "American Idol", and a wedding that resembled the parade sequence of "Hello Dolly", I was actually angry. At its best, "Love Actually" is sweet and true and optimistic. At its worst--as it often is--"Love Actually" is manipulative, unbelievable, and just plain stupid. I think a 4 is a better vote...actually.
Colleen gave it a0:
I haven't seen anyone comment on this yet, but what message does this movie send to women? I will admit to enjoying parts of this movie, but felt overall that the message was very superficial, very lame, and very dangerous. The writer seems to think that love is just about finding someone you like to look at, rather than anything else. The stories that ended poorly were not about people unwilling to take a risk as another reviewer mentioned. The stories that ended poorly were really because of a lack of respect and communication--something this movie lacked as well, given that the scenes were 5 minutes per character at a time. The writer seems to forget that love is how you feel *and* how you treat someone else--he captured the first part, without concern for the second part at all. I have heard high school gossip that captures real love better than this film.
