i googled myself recently. it could have been disappointing if i occupied a space in this world beyond utter obscurity, but i don't, so it was actually really cool because i found an article i wrote for my college's paper my senior year. for some strange reason it is in the 'sports' section of the online version of the spectator... which is odd since it was written for the arts and entertainment section. anyway, it's actually not as bad as it easily could have been... so there you go for wishy-washy self-praise! niiiiice!



Love, Actually, is all around...


By Katey Healy-Wurzburg Jan. 28, 2005



What!? A review of a romance?? BY ME?!? I know, I know... I am your faithful Katey, ever-nerdy, never-sappy and oh-so-crazy. Well, even I can get sucked into a romance... if the romance part ends with -tic and is attached to -comedy that is. Anyway, like many people over this past break, I maybe watched a smidgen of television. Luckily for me, my family got digital cable (ooooh!) right after I left for college. Which means my breaks are scintillating non-stop thrill-a-minute adventures... okay, no, of course not, I sit on me bum all day and watch the telly. And I do mean the telly. 'Yay!' to BBC America. And HBO, as it turns out. HBO's near Christmas scheduling was a flurry of British programming... must be the whole Scrooge, Charles Dickens-complex-we don't feel properly holly and jolly until the Brits help us along. Anywho, we must express deep and ever-lasting gratitude to HBO for doing this because they are responsible for exposing me to a wonderful movie, Love Actually.



Wow. Okay, that was the longest introduction ever. Anyway, back to the review. If you haven't seen Love Actually... because you have been living under a rock, or because you have been feeling extra sensitive about romantic stuff because of a recent break-up... or lack of romatic activity... or because you just sort of suck generally... GO RENT IT NOW! Buy it, even. It was on sale for ten dollars at Target last week. Boy, girl, man, womyn, young, older, single, married, dating, whatever, watch it! I really think this is one of those few movies that can appeal to nearly everyone. Except maybe Pol Pot. He probably would have disliked the general lack of genocide. It is funny, it has a great soundtrack, it is sweet... okay, okay, enough unqualified praise, lets get down to the nitty gritty.



The movie is first and foremost British. It is secondly a cast. The movie is centered within a period of time and on certain storylines, as opposed to a traditional single-relationship romance. For me, this is what made it so funny and yet realistic. It is set in the Christmas Season, in the month leading up to Christmas. You see the rather rapid development of storylines and relationships between eight primary couples. However, none are traditional or ideal relationships... as much of our own lives tend to unfold. Burning, never-revealed crushes, contemplated infidelity, the struggle to overcome the loss of a love and the never ending attempt to be an appealing version of yourself long enough to find someone to keep up with you... familiar encounters to us all, I think. Love Actually is admirably and unflaggingly British. The appearance of Rowan Atkinson, who I think epitomizes his country's quirks and best qualities equally, is a cameo whose value and hilarity is comparable only to those of Christopher Walken. Most fascinating to me was the director, Richard Curtis', use of music as a palpable, universalizing force nearly took on the role of actor itself, serving to help the story and people's actions to be eased remarkably. However, many of my favorite actors are actually in it as well, including Liam Neeson, Alan Rickman and Keira Knightley. A Jedi Knight, the Voice of God and a bad-ass pirate. Sweeet! Also gracing the screen with their excellent and super sexy performances were Hugh Grant, Colin Firth and Rodrigo Santoro (Karl). In my horny, er, I mean, humble opinion, the movie could have just been these two standing around being hot, and I would have been happy.



But the best part is that it wasn't. Love Actually was all of the stories-pain and love and laughter together, weaving a lovely, somewhat cheesy, but profoundly true story of the family of friends and loves possible today. Love Actually is funny, sweet, hilarious, silly, optimistic and also somehow true, all at the same time. It is amazing, and I quite simply love it. I give Love Actually 11 out of 10 stars... or maybe hearts.