A Detailed look at the Movie Love Actually: Spoilers, Looks at each story, details I just noticed, my defense of Andrew Lincoln, Plus some theories.
Okay I'm at the stage in Quarantine where I think I'm just watching a lot of Christmas movies that I didn't have time to watch at Christmas... And I watched Love Actually... and I feel like this deserves a bit of a breakdown... so let's look at it.
I'm going to give a look at every story and character and their connections... and I'll throw any theory I have with the connections also.
1) Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman- So Emma Thompson plays Karen who's married to Alan Rickman's character Harry. They have 2 kids and still seem to be in love but Harry is a little cold and preoccupied with work. He has a very beautiful secretary named Mia that we see him flirting with around the office -eventually he asks her what she wants for christmas in which she says "Something Pretty" and he gets her a necklace. Karen sees the necklace in Harry's pocket and she gets so excited that her husband actually got her this beautiful necklace. When she finally opens up her gift from him- it's a cd from Joni Mitchell... and she's crushed.
I love that this story is that it's totally crushing and very well acted... and it's very vague. The directors said that yes Harry and Mia were having an affair and I haven't been able to watch it without thinking that since then... but its never shown on screen so it is up to interpretation. I do think Harry and Karen loved each other so you kind of hope that even though the end was kind of cold and it looked like they were just there for the kids in my opinion... Or maybe Karen could have gotten divorced and found someone that really loves her... because there is someone that really loves her at the end of this movie.
Characters other connections
Mia is Friends with Andrew Lincoln's character Mark- but she's not at the wedding at the beginning of the movie. Plus she is neighbor's with Natalie and meets the Prime Minister when he's searching for Natalie at the end of the movie.
Mia and Harry work with Laura Linney's character Sarah and Karl.
Karen is the Prime Minister's sister and she's also very good friends with Liam Neeson's character Daniel.
And Harry and Karen's kids are in the Christmas Concert at the end of the movie.
Ohhh and Rowan Atkinson's Rufus the Jewelry Salesman is only in a brief scene where he takes too long packaging the necklace and he also appears at the end where he takes a long time getting his coat off at the airport- allowing Daniel's stepson Sam to run off and tell Joanna that he loves her.
2) John and Just Judy
So these two are kind of stand alones... I believe they have other connections but I'm not quite sure of who? I think they might work at Mark's Gallery but again I'm not quite sure. They are body doubles filming some raunchy scenes together and connecting very hilariously through those scenes. I think the whole story is cut out of tv airings, so you might not see them when you watch this.
This is just a cute story. Somehow this seems like the most realistic love story because it kind of progresses very quickly and it's cute. They aren't in the movie for very long so... you aren't missing too too much I guess... but it's cute and silly and some of the sillier stories in this really balance out the sad ones.
3)Juliet,Peter and Mark- One of the most iconic scenes in this movie is Andrew Lincoln's character Mark holds up signs confessing his love for Juliet, who recently married his best friend Peter. And a lot of people say Mark is a terrible friend and the worst character in this movie... but honestly I think he's just kind of trying to get over Juliet.
One of the things people think is creepy is that when he's filming the video of the wedding he only got footage of Juliet and nothing of ANYONE else in the movie... but he wasn't the videographer for the wedding... he didn't think anyone else would see it and I don't think he meant to do that it just sort of happened.
If Juliet hadn't found the tape- I don't think Mark would have told her he loved her. He probably would have just moved on and continued to be best friends with Peter. But when Juliet found the tape it became obvious that he loved her and he held up the signs- not expecting Juliet to leave Peter or to even kiss him, but to let her know he loved her and he thought she was amazing.
I will defend Andrew Lincoln!!!!
Other Characters-
So as I mentioned Mia is friends with Mark... maybe more than friends? Maybe he should stay away from Mia although... I don't think Mia is really a bad person- I just think she's doing a bad thing.
Laura Linney is also at the wedding and she comforts Mark because she thinks he's in love with Peter.
Colin Firth is also at the wedding without his wife... more on that later.
And one of the waiters working for the caterer Colin... who is the big Comic Relief in this movie- which I'll get to now!
4) Colin goes to America- I'm fairly certain his name is Colin? His main picture on IMDB looks way different than how he looks in the movie... but I have seen this actor in other movies and tv shows and I do like him a lot. Kris Marshall he was on a cute show called Traffic Light that ended up getting cancelled after one season... but he's still been in some good shows. Anyway he's trying to go to America to find people to hook up with- and he thinks American Girls will find him adorable whereas British girls just find him goofy. He ends up finding 4 women in America and comes home with 2 of them... one for him and one for his friend.
And the actresses of the 6 women in this storyline end up being quite famous. January Jones, Elisha Cuthbert, Ivanna Milicevic, Shannon Elizabeth, and of corse the very famous Denise Richards. They said that January Jones especially improvised her dialogue a lot. She Cuthbert and Milicevic all kind of did it sounds like- they used the script but they kind of loosened it up.
This is just a really silly story. I don't think there are many connections other than that he has a friend and he tries to offer food to a number of women at the beginning of the movie.
5) Jamie and Aurelia-
This one I think is one of my personal Favorites! Jamie- on his way to Peter and Juliet's wedding- leaves behind his sick girlfriend. He comes back home at the reception to discover that his girlfriend is sleeping with his brother.
Jamie ends up moving to what I believe is his writing cabin to work on his murder mystery novel and a beautiful Portugese woman ends up being his assistant because he knows her family member or something? It's a little weird how it happens but Aurelia doesn't know any english but they still show her and Jamie communicating so well. They don't understand each other- but everything they say connects and they fall for each other. When he is writing outside right by the lake and all of his pages fall into the lake Aurelia jumps in to save them and of corse he jumps in after Aurelia because it's not a big deal to him anyway- he didn't think it was his best work and he should have made copies... It's just really sweet and he ends up learning Portuguese to propose to her and she learns English for him and accepts it.
It's very sweet. And this is one of the less believable scenes in the movie... but it always makes me cry. It's very sweet.
Connections-
He doesn't seem to know Laura Linney's Sarah although they have the same mutual friends... I have a theory about that...
He's also friends with Peter, Juliet and Mark... but he doesn't seem to know Mia... there might be a theory there too.
I'm sure Jamie was supposed to be at the concert at the end as he does have nieces and nephews... but he was busy proposing to Aurelia and leaves them.
6) Sarah And Karl-
Okay so Sarah- played by Laura Linney is in love with Karl... I'm pretty sure his name is spelled with a K I might have spelled it with a C above... but anyway the point here is that Sarah has been in love with Karl ever since they met pretty much. Everyone in the office knows and Harry tells her she needs to go for it. And she does at the Christmas Party- actually I think he comes onto her at the Christmas Party. So she's home in bed with him about to get together with him... and her brother calls. Her brother is in a mental institution and when he needs help Sarah Drops everything answers the phone and talks to him or goes to see him or whatever he needs.
This ends up being one of the saddest stories because they never get together. It kind of seems unresolved at the end- but they definitely don't end up together.
Connections-
So Sarah's connections are kind of how you see her as a character. We see how much she cares about her brother- even more than herself... but really you can see she's a comforting shoulder for just about everyone in her life. I'm not the first person to discover this- it was on another article that I read and I'm sure that was from something else too but she's a really good person and... there's just a lot to this.
So I mentioned we see her comforting her friend Mark at Juliet and Peter's wedding. She thought he was in love with Peter- and she totally didn't judge him about that... but I don't know if she knew he loved Juliet... but she could kind of sense that he wasn't his happiest self at the wedding and he needed a little comforting.
She also comforts Karen when she sees Harry dancing with Mia at the Christmas Party. She says "well he's the boss he probably has to dance with everyone." But she still sort of let Karen know "hey... this is weird and maybe you should know about this."
Characters that don't interact with Sarah are the happier stories that don't really need any help from her. Jamie maybe could use a shoulder to cry on at first when he finds his girlfriend cheating on him... but he just sort of leaves and goes to write... he handles things differently and it's not really till he meets Aurelia that he communicates well... that might be a stretch but I think it's there.
Or maybe he does know Sarah and I'm totally getting it wrong.
Sarah also has a foil- Mia. They're both kind of involved in the same stories but I would say Mia is kind of pulling things apart while Sarah is trying to pick them back up? Maybe this is a stretch too- but I think Mia has a change at the end where she actually helps the Prime Minister find Natalie. Maybe she changes after the movie is done... I didn't notice if she was wearing the necklace or not...
BTW I mentioned I don't think Mia is a bad person really... but she does put that necklace on and that just seems wrong. The scene of Mia wearing the necklace is really brief and you could blink and miss it- but that was what I thought was hardest to watch.
7) Billy Mack-
Okay now the Number 1 Christmas Song no one can stand: Christmas is All Around Us by Billy Mack. I actually really like this song- I think they even played it on the Christmas Soundtrack at work... and I always get excited when they play the Christmas Songs from Love Actually. I don't know why.
Anyway Billy Mack is an aging rock star that decides to release a Christmas Song for a cash grab. He's trying to get to number 1 and it's a tough race between him and the teen pop band Blue. He has some very inappropriate and funny interviews- my favorite moment is when he writes on the Blue poster... it's just sooo funny. He ends up realizing that he wants to be with his family on christmas instead of Elton John's party- so he goes to his manager's house and lets him know how he thinks of him as family. It's really sweet and so so funny.
Connections-
Everyone listens to Billy Mack on the radio and they see the interviews and the videos. It inspires Sam to be a drummer. The Prime Minister seems to get a kick out of it... it's just a little something that's keeping everyone's mind off of the holidays and the drama. It's the Tiger King for the people in this world.
8) Daniel and his stepson Sam-
This one is another one of my favorites and... it's just really sweet. So Daniel is recently widowed from his wife Johanna and is now taking care of his stepson Sam and he's trying to connect with him and he's worried because Sam doesn't come out of his room much since the funeral. When he talks to Sam about it, Sam says he's in love with this girl from school named Johanna- which is the same name as his recently deceased mother as I just mentioned. He ends up becoming a musician because girls love musicians... plus this little girl is an amazing singer. I like her version of All I Want For Christmas Is You more than the Mariah Carey version.
So this all concludes in a romantic scene of Sam running through the airport to try to tell Johanna his feelings and Daniel meets a beautiful woman named Carol. (who is played by Claudia Schiffer who Daniel talks about being his dream girl all throughout the movie) Carol also has a son the same age and after she introduces herself as Carol... Daniel Says "Thank you, it's nice to meet you, Karen." And she corrects him saying "it's Carol." Which... makes me think Daniel is in love with his friend Karen! I gasped and cried at this part because I think this is the first time I ever noticed it.
Connections
He's best friends with Karen... I'm assuming he knows David- the Prime Minister also but that's never really mentioned.
And of corse they're both at the concert at the end of the movie.
9) David and Natalie-
So David is the new Prime Minister of Britain and Natalie is the catering manager that works for him and brings him coffee and biscuits. They have a pretty easy flirty relationship... which is cute. You can tell they really can't stop thinking about each other right from when they first meet. The American President kisses Natalie's cheek from the looks of it. David gets upset and ends up firing Natalie I believe... but then he can't stop thinking about her and he gets a christmas letter from her letting him know that she really likes him. She says "Actually I'm yours" I believe... and she apologizes for her interaction with the president... which was the president's fault.
He goes to every house and knocks on every door until Mia lets him know that Natalie lives next door and he ends up going to the Christmas Concert with Natalie because the family couldn't go without her and he really wanted to talk so he talked with her- and the kid that's in the play sat in between them in the Octopus costume... which is really funny.
One cool thing I found out was the detail of Natalie being Chubby was a choice of the actress I think. She wanted to show that David loved her and didn't see the flaws everyone else saw. As a chubby girl myself, I think this is cute.
Connections
He's another character that everyone in the movie knows in the movie because he's the Prime Minister- obviously everyone knows him. because of that and he serves as kind of the Tiger King of the world too.
He's also Karen's Brother- so she thinks he's at the concert just to see her kids... and she's so sad because of everything with her husband and the necklace she's so happy to finally see her brother. It's really sweet.
And I think that is everything I have to say about this movie. I'm sure I missed something... I find something new EVERY TIME I watch this movie so if I find anything else I could maybe post about that... probably in a shorter blog... this took me all day so far lol.
ANYWAY What do you guys think of this movie? Do you like it? Do you want me to do more long reviews of these movies? Let me know!
Bye!
-Shannon
I'm going to give a look at every story and character and their connections... and I'll throw any theory I have with the connections also.
1) Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman- So Emma Thompson plays Karen who's married to Alan Rickman's character Harry. They have 2 kids and still seem to be in love but Harry is a little cold and preoccupied with work. He has a very beautiful secretary named Mia that we see him flirting with around the office -eventually he asks her what she wants for christmas in which she says "Something Pretty" and he gets her a necklace. Karen sees the necklace in Harry's pocket and she gets so excited that her husband actually got her this beautiful necklace. When she finally opens up her gift from him- it's a cd from Joni Mitchell... and she's crushed.
I love that this story is that it's totally crushing and very well acted... and it's very vague. The directors said that yes Harry and Mia were having an affair and I haven't been able to watch it without thinking that since then... but its never shown on screen so it is up to interpretation. I do think Harry and Karen loved each other so you kind of hope that even though the end was kind of cold and it looked like they were just there for the kids in my opinion... Or maybe Karen could have gotten divorced and found someone that really loves her... because there is someone that really loves her at the end of this movie.
Characters other connections
Mia is Friends with Andrew Lincoln's character Mark- but she's not at the wedding at the beginning of the movie. Plus she is neighbor's with Natalie and meets the Prime Minister when he's searching for Natalie at the end of the movie.
Mia and Harry work with Laura Linney's character Sarah and Karl.
Karen is the Prime Minister's sister and she's also very good friends with Liam Neeson's character Daniel.
And Harry and Karen's kids are in the Christmas Concert at the end of the movie.
Ohhh and Rowan Atkinson's Rufus the Jewelry Salesman is only in a brief scene where he takes too long packaging the necklace and he also appears at the end where he takes a long time getting his coat off at the airport- allowing Daniel's stepson Sam to run off and tell Joanna that he loves her.
2) John and Just Judy
So these two are kind of stand alones... I believe they have other connections but I'm not quite sure of who? I think they might work at Mark's Gallery but again I'm not quite sure. They are body doubles filming some raunchy scenes together and connecting very hilariously through those scenes. I think the whole story is cut out of tv airings, so you might not see them when you watch this.
This is just a cute story. Somehow this seems like the most realistic love story because it kind of progresses very quickly and it's cute. They aren't in the movie for very long so... you aren't missing too too much I guess... but it's cute and silly and some of the sillier stories in this really balance out the sad ones.
3)Juliet,Peter and Mark- One of the most iconic scenes in this movie is Andrew Lincoln's character Mark holds up signs confessing his love for Juliet, who recently married his best friend Peter. And a lot of people say Mark is a terrible friend and the worst character in this movie... but honestly I think he's just kind of trying to get over Juliet.
One of the things people think is creepy is that when he's filming the video of the wedding he only got footage of Juliet and nothing of ANYONE else in the movie... but he wasn't the videographer for the wedding... he didn't think anyone else would see it and I don't think he meant to do that it just sort of happened.
If Juliet hadn't found the tape- I don't think Mark would have told her he loved her. He probably would have just moved on and continued to be best friends with Peter. But when Juliet found the tape it became obvious that he loved her and he held up the signs- not expecting Juliet to leave Peter or to even kiss him, but to let her know he loved her and he thought she was amazing.
I will defend Andrew Lincoln!!!!
Other Characters-
So as I mentioned Mia is friends with Mark... maybe more than friends? Maybe he should stay away from Mia although... I don't think Mia is really a bad person- I just think she's doing a bad thing.
Laura Linney is also at the wedding and she comforts Mark because she thinks he's in love with Peter.
Colin Firth is also at the wedding without his wife... more on that later.
And one of the waiters working for the caterer Colin... who is the big Comic Relief in this movie- which I'll get to now!
4) Colin goes to America- I'm fairly certain his name is Colin? His main picture on IMDB looks way different than how he looks in the movie... but I have seen this actor in other movies and tv shows and I do like him a lot. Kris Marshall he was on a cute show called Traffic Light that ended up getting cancelled after one season... but he's still been in some good shows. Anyway he's trying to go to America to find people to hook up with- and he thinks American Girls will find him adorable whereas British girls just find him goofy. He ends up finding 4 women in America and comes home with 2 of them... one for him and one for his friend.
And the actresses of the 6 women in this storyline end up being quite famous. January Jones, Elisha Cuthbert, Ivanna Milicevic, Shannon Elizabeth, and of corse the very famous Denise Richards. They said that January Jones especially improvised her dialogue a lot. She Cuthbert and Milicevic all kind of did it sounds like- they used the script but they kind of loosened it up.
This is just a really silly story. I don't think there are many connections other than that he has a friend and he tries to offer food to a number of women at the beginning of the movie.
5) Jamie and Aurelia-
This one I think is one of my personal Favorites! Jamie- on his way to Peter and Juliet's wedding- leaves behind his sick girlfriend. He comes back home at the reception to discover that his girlfriend is sleeping with his brother.
Jamie ends up moving to what I believe is his writing cabin to work on his murder mystery novel and a beautiful Portugese woman ends up being his assistant because he knows her family member or something? It's a little weird how it happens but Aurelia doesn't know any english but they still show her and Jamie communicating so well. They don't understand each other- but everything they say connects and they fall for each other. When he is writing outside right by the lake and all of his pages fall into the lake Aurelia jumps in to save them and of corse he jumps in after Aurelia because it's not a big deal to him anyway- he didn't think it was his best work and he should have made copies... It's just really sweet and he ends up learning Portuguese to propose to her and she learns English for him and accepts it.
It's very sweet. And this is one of the less believable scenes in the movie... but it always makes me cry. It's very sweet.
Connections-
He doesn't seem to know Laura Linney's Sarah although they have the same mutual friends... I have a theory about that...
He's also friends with Peter, Juliet and Mark... but he doesn't seem to know Mia... there might be a theory there too.
I'm sure Jamie was supposed to be at the concert at the end as he does have nieces and nephews... but he was busy proposing to Aurelia and leaves them.
6) Sarah And Karl-
Okay so Sarah- played by Laura Linney is in love with Karl... I'm pretty sure his name is spelled with a K I might have spelled it with a C above... but anyway the point here is that Sarah has been in love with Karl ever since they met pretty much. Everyone in the office knows and Harry tells her she needs to go for it. And she does at the Christmas Party- actually I think he comes onto her at the Christmas Party. So she's home in bed with him about to get together with him... and her brother calls. Her brother is in a mental institution and when he needs help Sarah Drops everything answers the phone and talks to him or goes to see him or whatever he needs.
This ends up being one of the saddest stories because they never get together. It kind of seems unresolved at the end- but they definitely don't end up together.
Connections-
So Sarah's connections are kind of how you see her as a character. We see how much she cares about her brother- even more than herself... but really you can see she's a comforting shoulder for just about everyone in her life. I'm not the first person to discover this- it was on another article that I read and I'm sure that was from something else too but she's a really good person and... there's just a lot to this.
So I mentioned we see her comforting her friend Mark at Juliet and Peter's wedding. She thought he was in love with Peter- and she totally didn't judge him about that... but I don't know if she knew he loved Juliet... but she could kind of sense that he wasn't his happiest self at the wedding and he needed a little comforting.
She also comforts Karen when she sees Harry dancing with Mia at the Christmas Party. She says "well he's the boss he probably has to dance with everyone." But she still sort of let Karen know "hey... this is weird and maybe you should know about this."
Characters that don't interact with Sarah are the happier stories that don't really need any help from her. Jamie maybe could use a shoulder to cry on at first when he finds his girlfriend cheating on him... but he just sort of leaves and goes to write... he handles things differently and it's not really till he meets Aurelia that he communicates well... that might be a stretch but I think it's there.
Or maybe he does know Sarah and I'm totally getting it wrong.
Sarah also has a foil- Mia. They're both kind of involved in the same stories but I would say Mia is kind of pulling things apart while Sarah is trying to pick them back up? Maybe this is a stretch too- but I think Mia has a change at the end where she actually helps the Prime Minister find Natalie. Maybe she changes after the movie is done... I didn't notice if she was wearing the necklace or not...
BTW I mentioned I don't think Mia is a bad person really... but she does put that necklace on and that just seems wrong. The scene of Mia wearing the necklace is really brief and you could blink and miss it- but that was what I thought was hardest to watch.
7) Billy Mack-
Okay now the Number 1 Christmas Song no one can stand: Christmas is All Around Us by Billy Mack. I actually really like this song- I think they even played it on the Christmas Soundtrack at work... and I always get excited when they play the Christmas Songs from Love Actually. I don't know why.
Anyway Billy Mack is an aging rock star that decides to release a Christmas Song for a cash grab. He's trying to get to number 1 and it's a tough race between him and the teen pop band Blue. He has some very inappropriate and funny interviews- my favorite moment is when he writes on the Blue poster... it's just sooo funny. He ends up realizing that he wants to be with his family on christmas instead of Elton John's party- so he goes to his manager's house and lets him know how he thinks of him as family. It's really sweet and so so funny.
Connections-
Everyone listens to Billy Mack on the radio and they see the interviews and the videos. It inspires Sam to be a drummer. The Prime Minister seems to get a kick out of it... it's just a little something that's keeping everyone's mind off of the holidays and the drama. It's the Tiger King for the people in this world.
8) Daniel and his stepson Sam-
This one is another one of my favorites and... it's just really sweet. So Daniel is recently widowed from his wife Johanna and is now taking care of his stepson Sam and he's trying to connect with him and he's worried because Sam doesn't come out of his room much since the funeral. When he talks to Sam about it, Sam says he's in love with this girl from school named Johanna- which is the same name as his recently deceased mother as I just mentioned. He ends up becoming a musician because girls love musicians... plus this little girl is an amazing singer. I like her version of All I Want For Christmas Is You more than the Mariah Carey version.
So this all concludes in a romantic scene of Sam running through the airport to try to tell Johanna his feelings and Daniel meets a beautiful woman named Carol. (who is played by Claudia Schiffer who Daniel talks about being his dream girl all throughout the movie) Carol also has a son the same age and after she introduces herself as Carol... Daniel Says "Thank you, it's nice to meet you, Karen." And she corrects him saying "it's Carol." Which... makes me think Daniel is in love with his friend Karen! I gasped and cried at this part because I think this is the first time I ever noticed it.
Connections
He's best friends with Karen... I'm assuming he knows David- the Prime Minister also but that's never really mentioned.
And of corse they're both at the concert at the end of the movie.
9) David and Natalie-
So David is the new Prime Minister of Britain and Natalie is the catering manager that works for him and brings him coffee and biscuits. They have a pretty easy flirty relationship... which is cute. You can tell they really can't stop thinking about each other right from when they first meet. The American President kisses Natalie's cheek from the looks of it. David gets upset and ends up firing Natalie I believe... but then he can't stop thinking about her and he gets a christmas letter from her letting him know that she really likes him. She says "Actually I'm yours" I believe... and she apologizes for her interaction with the president... which was the president's fault.
He goes to every house and knocks on every door until Mia lets him know that Natalie lives next door and he ends up going to the Christmas Concert with Natalie because the family couldn't go without her and he really wanted to talk so he talked with her- and the kid that's in the play sat in between them in the Octopus costume... which is really funny.
One cool thing I found out was the detail of Natalie being Chubby was a choice of the actress I think. She wanted to show that David loved her and didn't see the flaws everyone else saw. As a chubby girl myself, I think this is cute.
Connections
He's another character that everyone in the movie knows in the movie because he's the Prime Minister- obviously everyone knows him. because of that and he serves as kind of the Tiger King of the world too.
He's also Karen's Brother- so she thinks he's at the concert just to see her kids... and she's so sad because of everything with her husband and the necklace she's so happy to finally see her brother. It's really sweet.
And I think that is everything I have to say about this movie. I'm sure I missed something... I find something new EVERY TIME I watch this movie so if I find anything else I could maybe post about that... probably in a shorter blog... this took me all day so far lol.
ANYWAY What do you guys think of this movie? Do you like it? Do you want me to do more long reviews of these movies? Let me know!
Bye!
-Shannon
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