What I didn't like --
- The horny douchebag who goes to Wisconsin to have an orgy with a bunch of strangers. Really, what was the point of it? Why did the movie waste any time on it? It doesn't connect with any of the central plots of the film. The assembly cut of the film was 3 and a half hours, and Curtis struggled to get it down to a watchable level. This entire plotline could have been excised. Boom, there's fifteen minutes.
- The Keira Knightley plotline. The actual wedding was charming, with the band popping up everywhere to play "All You Need Is Love." After that, it's about a stalkerish creep who gets rewarded for being a stalkerish creep. I could ask the same questions I asked of the horny douchebag storyline -- the story doesn't connect with any of the characters in other plots, so why waste the time on it? I understand that it was supposed to connect more closely -- the stalker owns (or works in) the gallery where Alan Rickman has his Christmas party -- but in the released film it doesn't connect and becomes a superfluous waste of time.
- The Colin Firth story, believe it or not, despite finding the ending of it somewhat charming. The story is cute, don't get me wrong, but it also doesn't intersect with the other stories. And the "We hate you, Uncle Jamie" scene -- were these people we were supposed to know? Were we supposed to care about this? In the film as edited, it wasn't the right scene to get the story back to the Portuguese maid in France. And, unfortunately, the lack of connection to other characters makes it superfluous.
- Alan Rickman. I don't buy his storyline because, even as late as the Christmas party, he seems wholly oblivious to Mia's obvious lust for him. And even when he leaves to go Christmas shopping with Emma Thompson, when Mia tells him to buy her something, he is basically, "Why?" That's not being flirtatious and cryptic. That's being, "What planet are you on?" If there were problems in the Richman/Thompson marriage that made Rickman open to cheating (or, at a minimum, contemplate cheating) on his wife, the film doesn't give us even a hint at that. Rickman, in the few scenes we see of him with Thompson, appears to be a loving husband and devoted father. There is so much of this story missing that it's difficult to accept.
- Hugh Grant as David Cameron. (He's obviously a Tory; he keeps a portrait of Thatcher in his office.) Let me be clear -- Grant's performance is a delight. I enjoyed Grant in this role. My problem is, what was the great issue between Britain and America? (And I don't mean a smarmy Billy Bob Thornton appearing to make a move on his assistant.) What is this great political crisis? What is the issue? I wanted to know more about that. Because without that, it comes across as Grant forces a diplomatic crisis with the United States because he thinks he saw Billy Bob horndogging on his crush rather than as a genuine difference of opinion between the transatlantic allies.
Ok, since it is one of my favorite romantic comedies (yeah i'm a guy and i like the occasional romantic comedy
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The horny douchebag who goes to Wisconsin to have an orgy with a bunch of strangers. Really, what was the point of it? Why did the movie waste any time on it? It doesn't connect with any of the central plots of the film. The assembly cut of the film was 3 and a half hours, and Curtis struggled to get it down to a watchable level. This entire plotline could have been excised. Boom, there's fifteen minutes.
Agreed and i have mentioned it before.. neither funny nor interesting.
The Keira Knightley plotline. The actual wedding was charming, with the band popping up everywhere to play "All You Need Is Love." After that, it's about a stalkerish creep who gets rewarded for being a stalkerish creep. I could ask the same questions I asked of the horny douchebag storyline -- the story doesn't connect with any of the characters in other plots, so why waste the time on it? I understand that it was supposed to connect more closely -- the stalker owns (or works in) the gallery where Alan Rickman has his Christmas party -- but in the released film it doesn't connect and becomes a superfluous waste of time.
It's not about Keira Knightley but Andrew Lincoln (funny to see him there and now see him as ultrabadass Rick in Walking Dead). It's impossible love.. love for someone who is already "taken" and doesn't love you and on top of it she's in love with your best friend so there's a double whammy on this. If you get into such a situation you are royally screwed.
The Colin Firth story, believe it or not, despite finding the ending of it somewhat charming. The story is cute, don't get me wrong, but it also doesn't intersect with the other stories. And the "We hate you, Uncle Jamie" scene -- were these people we were supposed to know? Were we supposed to care about this? In the film as edited, it wasn't the right scene to get the story back to the Portuguese maid in France. And, unfortunately, the lack of connection to other characters makes it superfluous.
I think you are misunderstanding the entire movie.. it's not a sinlge story but an episodic movie where the characters are loosely connected (Colin Firth attends Keira's wedding, Andrew Lincoln knows Laura Linney, the woman madly in love with a coworker, she works in Alan Rickman's office and so on. Each of their stories doesn't affect the other.
Colin's story is a bit of a garbled mess near the end.. the timeline is wonky (we are supposed to believe he's learned a bit of portuguese via language school in mere weeks or less, he is supposed to leave his family on Christmas eve or the day before to fly to Portugal and so on) but it's still so funny.. love across cultural barriers and the maid is just so charming and cute.
Alan Rickman. I don't buy his storyline because, even as late as the Christmas party, he seems wholly oblivious to Mia's obvious lust for him. And even when he leaves to go Christmas shopping with Emma Thompson, when Mia tells him to buy her something, he is basically, "Why?" That's not being flirtatious and cryptic. That's being, "What planet are you on?" If there were problems in the Richman/Thompson marriage that made Rickman open to cheating (or, at a minimum, contemplate cheating) on his wife, the film doesn't give us even a hint at that. Rickman, in the few scenes we see of him with Thompson, appears to be a loving husband and devoted father. There is so much of this story missing that it's difficult to accept.
I think otherwise. He's an older guy in a standard marriage that has maybe lost a little bit of spark due to everyday life and responsibilities. In comes hot secretary who drops hints often enough to make him wonder. He's cautious but intrigued and can't believe it at first that a young woman might be interested in him. It's temporary weakness when he buys the jewelry for her and not his wife and we don't know if he would have actually followed through with the physical act of cheating because his wife caught him in the early phase. This is a story about broken trust.. he didn't kiss the other woman or had sex with her but he still contemplated it and that was enough to shatter their relationship and it's doubtful if it ever can return to the old status.. the saddest story of the movie especially with the acting power of Emma Thompson.
Hugh Grant as David Cameron. (He's obviously a Tory; he keeps a portrait of Thatcher in his office.) Let me be clear -- Grant's performance is a delight. I enjoyed Grant in this role. My problem is, what was the great issue between Britain and America? (And I don't mean a smarmy Billy Bob Thornton appearing to make a move on his assistant.) What is this great political crisis? What is the issue? I wanted to know more about that. Because without that, it comes across as Grant forces a diplomatic crisis with the United States because he thinks he saw Billy Bob horndogging on his crush rather than as a genuine difference of opinion between the transatlantic allies.
I think Thornton's US President was bullying the UK politically to get his way.. the sort of general consensus that the US is the world's bully and if it can't sweet talk you into getting on their side they will use pressure even if you are an ally.
Grant's prime minister at first wanted to play ball and roll over because he didn't want to ruffle US feathers but seeing the US president, most likely a married man and making inapropriate comments about the PM's crush moments ago, make a move on her set him over the edge and made him take a stand. It might have led to some diplomatic hiccup, especially when you see the grim US president face, but it's a movie and not a documentation on diplomacy because i have rarely seen high ranking government officials be this frank publicly.
I've said it before.. it is one of my favorite movies but it's also not perfect. The Cut scenes however show some additional fun stuff.. Liam Neeson googling Claudia Schiffer and getting caught in a porn popup loop complete with audio, some african women carring wood back and talking about men the same way western women talk about men and my most favorite one about two old lesbians where you realize that they're lesbians when one enters the bedroom and lays down next to her sick lifemate who passes soon after.. that was heartwarming to see such deep love and care about another person and should have been included in the movie and the horndog sandwich boy cut out. Would have improved the movie.
