RARELY HAS THE POWER OF CINEMA BEEN FELT BY SO MANY, IN SUCH OPPOSING WAYS…
“Love Actually dulls the critical senses, making those susceptible to its hallucinogenic powers think they’ve seen a funny, warm-hearted, romantic film about the many complex manifestations of love. Colourful Narcotics. A perfect description of a bafflingly popular film.”
By any reasonable measurement, Love Actually is a bad movie. There are plenty of bad movies out there, but what gets under Gary Raymond’s skin here is that it seems to have tricked so many people into thinking it’s a good movie.
In this hilarious, scene-by-scene analysis of the Christmas monolith that is Love Actually, Gary Raymond takes us through a suffocating quagmire of badly drawn characters, nonsensical plotlines, and open bigotry, to a climax of ill-conceived schmaltz. How Love Actually Ruined Christmas (or Colourful Narcotics) is the definitive case against a terrible movie.
What is there to say about this book? I admit that I like Love Actually. It's a nice, fuzzy, gentle movie. Gary is right that there are problems in it, but I think he's poking more holes than it really needs.
I enjoyed reading this; I always like thoughtful reviews, and this is so detailed it was almost like watching the movie again. (He did miss the best joke, though..."Thanks, Ant or Dec" !) I think he was too mean on everyone, but especially Alan Rickman's character. However he clearly put a lot of work into it, and it was very easy to follow along with.
It's a good write up, and it's always good to think about things from the other side, but do keep an open mind while you're reading.
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