This is almost without question the ultimate romantic comedy. It certainly has plenty of each of those qualities, practically to the point of overkill and excessiveness. Yet, balancing out certain gratuitous subplots are others that are either impossibly sweet and charming or really bizarre and funny or perhaps even both.
Writer/director Richard Curtis, no stranger to this genre, certainly had enough material here and was able to assemble one of the best casts of British actors ever. Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson and a plethora of over actors put real joie de vivre into their roles, expressing a form of happiness and satisfaction rarely seen in today's movies.
Perhaps most impressive is that nearly ten years on, many of these actors remain in our memories in part because of this film. It has its moments of unnecessary storytelling such as that of the horny Brit Collin traveling to the US in order to sleep with the first woman he meets and the budding relationship between the two sex actors. However, there are other stories, especially that of the Prime Minister and one of his assistants and the unrequited romance between a man and his best friend's wife that give the film its true value.
Some scenes are purely, beautifully emotional; others are totally strange, absurd and maddening. Then again, isn't love?
Writer/director Richard Curtis, no stranger to this genre, certainly had enough material here and was able to assemble one of the best casts of British actors ever. Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson and a plethora of over actors put real joie de vivre into their roles, expressing a form of happiness and satisfaction rarely seen in today's movies.
Perhaps most impressive is that nearly ten years on, many of these actors remain in our memories in part because of this film. It has its moments of unnecessary storytelling such as that of the horny Brit Collin traveling to the US in order to sleep with the first woman he meets and the budding relationship between the two sex actors. However, there are other stories, especially that of the Prime Minister and one of his assistants and the unrequited romance between a man and his best friend's wife that give the film its true value.
Some scenes are purely, beautifully emotional; others are totally strange, absurd and maddening. Then again, isn't love?