When it comes to holiday films with major casts, there have been *many* of them over the years. But if we narrow the field just a little to those specifically focused or centered on/around a holiday, we end up with films like Valentine’s Day (2010) and New Year’s Eve (2011), all of which owe their creation to writer/director Richard Curtis’s 2003 rom-com Love Actually. Curtis’s production features an incredible ensemble cast of stars like Alan Rickman (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), Bill Nighy (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy), Emma Thompson (Last Christmas), Laura Linney (The Truman Show), Hugh Grant (Paddington 2), and many, many more, but they are just the lure to bring you in. What keeps audiences coming back now for 20 years is the incredibly touching story that focuses on the complexity of relationships. It lifts you up as much as it tears you down, all while maintaining the security of a well-intentioned and comforting embrace. To celebrate the 20th anniversary, Universal Pictures is releasing a first-time 4K UHD edition of Love Actually with all the legacy features of prior releases *and* a brand-new nearly-30 minute “Making Love Actually” featurette. Will it be enough to topple Blue and get Billy Mack to the top of the charts for the holidays? That’s up to you.
Beginning five weeks before Christmas, there’s a wedding and a funeral, a newly-broken heart, three sets of singles involved in unorthodox meet-cutes, and a marriage on the cusp of disillusion. Hearts broken and mended, lives shattered and restored, and all of it set to the sounds of an aging rocker desperate to make a comeback. What these interconnected tales have in common is not the Christmas spirit, but the warmth of love that calls to comfort each of them when needed most.
The fun thing about anniversary releases is having the ability to not only revisit a film you enjoy (perhaps), but to see it differently. Films made now look very different than they did 20 years ago, as they did 40 years ago, and so on. With a film like Love Actually, there’s plenty on-screen to appreciate and some to reconsider, none of which, though, diminish one’s enjoyment of the film. The stories of people coming together (Colin Firth (Mamma Mia!) and Lúcia Moniz’s (Fatima) Jaime and Aurelia, Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon’s (The Bromley Boys) Prime Minister and Natalie, and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) and Joanna Page’s (Dolittle) John and Just Judy) remain as delightful as ever, their meetings similarly adorable, even if the circumstances are rife with their own peculiarities and codes of ethics. The stories of heartbreak (Liam Neeson’s (A Monster Calls) widower Daniel, Laura Linney’s Sarah’s near-hit with Rodrigo Santoro’s (300) Karl, and the betrayal of Alan Rickman’s Harry to Emma Thompson’s Karen) continue to make one feel painful sorrow. Now, however, as we do with shifting expectations and rules of engagement in society, we look back on McCutcheon’s Natalie and go, “in what world is she fat?” while also challenging the notion that her weight should be a subject for laughs. Then again, the way Natalie brings it up re: talking about her ex, and the way that Grant’s newly-commissioned Prime Minster reacts, it may be easier to read the comment as the ex being a negging asshat than it being a serious commentary on her person. Though that one of the members of the PM’s team does bring it up again does imply a certain social view of women of a certain size at that time. However, again, in what world is Natalie of a size where “fat” enters the lexicon of description? There’s also the storyline of Kris Marshall’s (Death at a Funeral) horndog Colin who heads to the United States to get laid. While I’m not so vanilla to think that changing one’s circumstance in order to meet women isn’t a smart move, the crassness of the character diminishes the general sweetness of the film (though EoM Editor Crystal Davidson argues that that’s the exact point). And that’s saying something considering the bawdiness of Bill Nighy’s Billy Mack.
Now, with this being a 4K remaster, we need to at least spend a brief period talking about that. There’s no indication as to how the remaster was made, where it was done, or who approved it, not in the press release or with the retail copy sent by Universal Pictures for this review. That said, this edition not only includes 4K with HDR Video, those with Atmos capability get to enjoy improved audio. As my screening setup does not include Atmos, I can’t speak to that aspect, though the 5.1 Dolby Stereo track is wonderfully balanced so that while this is a character piece, one still does feel enveloped in the story through the sound. As for the video, cinematographer Michael Coulter (Notting Hill; Four Weddings and a Funeral) doesn’t exactly provide a visual spectacle, preferring to keep things as grounded in this rom-com as possible. There’re plenty cool colors and natural tones, though the reds of Natalie’s jacket and Heike Makatsch’s (Resident Evil) undergarments and makeup do pop much more in this iteration. Don’t mistake this to mean that the film doesn’t benefit from improved definition, it’s just that there’s nothing particularly overwhelming in the visual elements that makes any aspect seem enhanced and that may just be because, unlike other rom-coms which tend to use heightened circumstances, colors, and sets to create movie magic, the whole of Love Actually isn’t about extraordinary magic, but the everyday that surrounds us.
What is exciting for longtime fans is a brand-new featurette titled “Making Love Actually.” With members of the cast and crew doing traditional talking-head interviews, the audience is walked through the making of the film through a variety of segments, but rather than just being about the technical side of things, there’s also a great deal of personal stories shared regarding things that they experienced while shooting. It may be as small as ruminating on what it must be like for the people captured at the airport to watch themselves on film 20 years later or for one crew member whose time shooting the Firth/Moniz lake sequence will forever be connected to their child. Sure, we learn that the idea of including Christmas within the film came about a third of the way through the creation process. We listen to the crew talk about the casting process and how different things might be if made today, especially when one considers where cast members like Martin Freeman, Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead), and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Maze Runner: The Death Cure) are on completely different trajectories than back in 2003. All of that is well and good, but it’s the personal stories that make this featurette emotional and unique. This is something special for fans new and old to enjoy.
While this reviewer is a giant softie for rom-coms, holiday films tend not to land on my rewatch list. Perhaps it’s growing up Jewish that I feel disconnected from this particular brand of narrative, but anything involving Christmas just didn’t draw me in. Where Love Actually differs, in my view, from other Christmas faire and what separates it from other holiday-centric tales is that it’s not about the holiday, but the people. The holiday inclusion just adds a little energy to things and allows opportunities for people to do good works (like Rowan Atkinson’s (The Witches) Jeweler who comes to Sam’s (Brodie-Sangster) rescue at the airport) or to create a little peace between friends (Lincoln’s now famous “To Me You Are Perfect” scene). Because it’s set at the holidays, we, too, are more forgiving of things that might seem like overreaches or breaches of etiquette in the workplace. But, mostly, it’s because Curtis and company remind us that love, actually, is everywhere no matter the time of year, period, or place. That’s what helps make it a staple watch this and any other time of year.
Love Actually Special Features:
- Making Love Actually (29:32)
- Deleted Scenes with Introductions by Richard Curtis
- The music of Love Actually with introductions by Richard Curtis
- The Storytellers
- Kelly Clarkson “The Trouble with Love Is” Music Video
- Billy Mack “Christmas Is All Around” Music Video
- Feature Commentary with Director Richard Curtis and Actors Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy and Thomas Sangster
Available on 4K UHD Blu-ray and digital November 21st, 2023.
For more information, head to the official Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Love Actually webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Recommendation
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