Footage of passengers being welcomed and embraced by loved ones at Heathrow Airport was shot on location with hidden cameras for a week. In the film’s DVD commentary, writer-director Richard Curtis explains that when something special was caught on camera, a crew member would race out to have its subjects sign a waiver so the moment might be included in Love Actually. This was a fitting production device, as Curtis claims that watching the love expressed at the arrival gate of LAX is what inspired him to write the ensemble romance in the first place. 2. Four plot lines were cut from Love Actually.

WATCH: Richard Curtis & Vanessa Kirby in Conversation – AH / JW3 Speaker Series" (Interview). Interviewed by Vanessa Kirby. London: Alan Howard/JW3 Speaker Series. 28 February 2018. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 . Retrieved 18 March 2021. A made-for-television short film sequel, Red Nose Day Actually, aired in two different versions on BBC One and NBC in 2017. Glee, Actually", 2012 holiday episode from the fourth season of the American musical television series Glee The best Christmas movies on Netflix UK". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017 . Retrieved 24 February 2019.In Rolling Stone, Peter Travers rated it two stars out of a possible four, saying "there are laughs laced with feeling here, but the deft screenwriter Richard Curtis dilutes the impact by tossing in more and more stories. As a director ... Curtis can't seem to rein in his writer. ... He ladles sugar over the eager-to-please Love Actually to make it go down easy, forgetting that sometimes it just makes you gag." [46] Christopher Orr of The Atlantic was negative toward the work and described it as the least romantic movie of all time, considering its ultimate message to be "It's probably best if you give up on love altogether and get on with the rest of your life." [47] [48] Orr, Christopher (6 December 2013). "Love Actually Is the Least Romantic Film of All Time". The Atlantic . Retrieved 28 December 2013. Weber, Lindsey (19 March 2017). "Hated It, Actually: What Critics Thought of Love Actually in 2003". Vulture. New York Media, LLC . Retrieved 12 December 2016. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will release a 4K UHD Blu-ray on 21 November 2023 in the US for the film's 20th anniversary. [53] See also [ edit ] Wakefield, Lily (12 December 2020). "A tearjerking lesbian love story was cut from Love Actually". PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news . Retrieved 6 November 2023.

And unlike most romcoms, which tend to follow one relationship from meetcute to happily ever after, here we have multiple storylines, which present different romantic challenges for all the different characters. There is the silliness of the Prime Minister and his crush, but there is also, to name a few, Daniel (Liam Neeson) losing his wife, Joanna, and helping his son with his own romantic conquest; Sarah (Laura Linney) caring for her mentally ill brother; Jamie (Colin Firth) being cheated on; Mark (Andrew Lincoln) being in love with his best mate’s wife (Keira Knightley); Harry and Karen’s marriage and his affair with his much younger assistant. Slightly skimmed over they may be, but they do touch on some of life’s most painful situations and realities; Curtis, problematic as he is, leaves certain challenges untouched – but to get an affair, a workplace romance, unrequited love, a bereavement, a language barrier and friendship all in one film isn’t bad going. a b Finger, Bobby. "Richard Curtis on About Time, Love Actually, and Being a 'Fool for Love' ". Vulture . Retrieved 6 March 2017. Scott, A. O. (7 November 2003). "Tales of Love, the True and the Not-So-True". The New York Times . Retrieved 7 April 2019.Wloszczyna, Susan (5 November 2003). "Love's actually funny to Curtis". USA Today . Retrieved 7 April 2019.