MovieChat Forums > Love Actually (2003) Discussion > One of the most depressing movies ever

One of the most depressing movies ever

posted 9 years ago by Ana_Banana
34 replies | jump to latest

This is not funny. At all. Could you name a really comedic scene from it?

This is not emotional. It's just a collection of the lamest cliches meant to make you feel like crap if you didn't have a relationship for the moment to cuddle and to giggle and to 'wove' because it's Christmas and everybody knows Christmas was about having someone in your sheets.

This is not believable. The PM story and the little boy story were especially dumb. I don't mind much really for lack of realism in a piece of entertainment as such, so I don't expect someone to destroy your house like Laurel and Hardy because you didn't buy their Christmas trees. But they were really funny!

So all those mushy stories they're force-feeding you with have the opposite effect on me, it's like they are doing it by order like an army of mind-numbing zombies smiling so charmingly at you: 'Are you like us now? Are you like us now? Good. You're not? You're an idiot or a fat sister, for us to make cruel fun of.'

P. S. I am not fat myself.
And this movie is depressing and depressingly bad. The romcom formula worked in the 30s and 40s while still fresh and cleverly done.

We can't be lost; we don't know where we're going.
All that matters is that we're going.

[–] ppllkk 9 years ago

I have seen it on a list of movies that diabetics should not see without a written note from their doctor.

[–] Wolmas 8 years ago

I have seen it on a list of movies that diabetics should not see without a written note from their doctor.

.

[–] habul 9 years ago

Agreed. This movie had the makings of a good comedy but fell flat. The stories are tasteless and the characters aren't particularly likeable.
Earth. Welcome.

[–] louiseculmer 9 years ago

personally, i find it very mixed. i like the hasbeen pop star making a comeback the best. i also find the prime minister funny, and i quite like Colin firth with the portuguese girl, and the body doubles are quite amusing. but I loathe the widower and his stepson story, and the bloke who's in love with his best friend's wife, and the girl with the nutty brother. i don't care for the adulterous editor either. in fact, it is like all the compilation movies i have ever seen, some stories i like, others not. the problem for me is that they always seem to mix moods - some are funny, some are sad etc, and since i tend to prefer comedies, i always find i like the funny ones and dislike the sad ones.

[–] rizdek 9 years ago

Comedic scenes: Yes

I laughed at how the porn stars interacted...casually talking about things as if they were two office workers. I laughed at how stylized their pornographic acting was. I laughed at how timid and shy he was around her on their date after fondling and schtucking her all day long.

I laughed at the exchanges between Aurelia and Jamie...her in Portuguese and him in English speaking their inner most thoughts because the other couldn't understand.

Those are a couple of comedic scenes that I remember.

But I do agree there were some depressing aspects as well.

[–] danielle_kil 9 years ago

They weren't porn stars actually and they didn't sleep together all day. They were body doubles for famous actors in big budget movies, that's why the sets were so fancy. As many times as I've seen this movie I just figured this out today while watching it, I always thought they were porn stars too lol!

My father will hear of this

[–] wstock70 9 years ago

Love this movie!!! Freakin hilarious

[–] PowergirlsMom 9 years ago

I have to say that I love this silly movie and watch it every year, and don t find it depressing ( although sad in a spot or two) and definitely laugh ( every single year) at several spots. Alan Rickman with Laura Linney, Colin Firth's character Jamie with Aurelia, ( love his landlady) Hugh Grant in several scenes, terrible dancing and all, and my list goes on. Perhaps not laugh out loud, but a soft snort and several fond smiles. I don't know if that makes me a sentimental fool, but so be it. 0 : )

[–] sandora415 9 years ago

If you're a sentimental fool, then so am I!
This is my favorite Christmas film, and I also watch every year; it's become a family tradition.

[–] PowergirlsMom 9 years ago

In that case, Merry Christmas my fellow fool! 0 : )

~You just keep thinkin', Butch-that's what you're good at~

[–] sandora415 9 years ago

And a very Merry Christmas to you!

(Hopefully, we'll be fools for many more Christmas viewings!)

[–] !!!deleted!!! (50223210) 9 years ago

Odd movie to make a family tradition... but I'm not big on nudity in my holiday movie line up!!

[–] sandora415 9 years ago

But think how much you can enjoy your sanctimonious snark! Worth it, right?

[–] !!!deleted!!! (50223210) 9 years ago

Totally!

[–] ladygreyheart 8 years ago

Count me in. I love this movie. My sister & I are MAJOR Alan Rickman fans so when we are together during Christmas we make it a double feature with Die Hard.

[–] Dainty (1960) 4 years ago

Liking this film makes you neither sentimental nor romantic as the film is none of them.

[–] Redart27 9 years ago

Comedic scene = the Prime Minister's happy dance. Lol @ Hugh Grant's dancing. He looked like he was practicing fencing poses.

[–] Teach417 9 years ago

Of course it's not believable. It's not a realistic movie, it's a fairy tale. Eleven year old boys don't learn to drum like a studio musician in a week or two. People don't learn new languages in a few days. A guy with a long standing crush on a super model doesn't bump into someone who looks just like her. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom doesn't turn on the US President because he made a pass at a girl. An English guy doesn't land in Milwaukee and end up in bed with four beautiful women the first night. A washed up, recovering heroin addict singer doesn't have a huge hit record with a silly reworking of a song which wasn't that great in the first place. Etc. You have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy this film. If you're not willing to do that, then don't watch it. But offhand, I can't think of any Xmas movies you can enjoy if you insist upon them being believable.

We provide ... Leverage.

[–] Ghetto_Defendant 9 years ago

You mean that there were never three angelic convicts and a snake wandering around Devil's Island?

;-)

Thank you for your excellent response! I feel that there are many frustrated screenplay writers and actors who enjoy writing drivel just to feel good about themselves. But it's never original, so they shouldn't.

[–] Teach417 9 years ago

Ah, We're No Angels, Bogey reminding us that he could do comedy. I hadn't seen it in decades until I watched it recently, it is a lot of fun. I appreciate that you liked what I had to say. It's one thing to not like a movie. It's another to reject it because it is what it is, instead of what someone thinks it should be.

We provide ... Leverage.

[–] Suzume-san 9 years ago

Well said, Teach. This film lives in my Christmas-films box, along with The Snowman, The Polar Express, A Christmas Carol, The Grinch, Santa Claus and so on - all fun fantasies for watching at Christmas, consigned to the attic for the rest of the year.

[–] bstee-1 9 years ago

I am not sure it was ever intended to be the type of comedy that has you laughing out loud. There are mild chuckles or wrey smiles but no real knee slappers. It is not that type of movie. It doesn't fit well into a particular box which may be why it frustrates some so much. It is not all happy and love and not slapstick comedy. It deals with attraction, love, relationships, difficulties, satisfaction and failures. Some succeed and some fail. I cringe when the phone rings (and she answers) while she is about to finally have the dream evening but life gets in the way. I imagine most of the audience thinks the same thing...turn off the damned phone. But that is the point. Life gets in the way. We have a young lady flirting with her boss and we see the devastation of that on a family when in most movies an old man flirting with a young lady is seen as harmless. But then we have just off the wall and crazy sexual relations like Colin who hooks up based on his accent. There are parts that work and parts that don't. But overall it still is an annual classic for us.

[–] davidjanuzbrown 9 years ago

The main couple that works best is Colin Firth and Lucia Moniz. They are also the couple that has the best chance to have a long term relationship ( the subtitles involving what they think work perfectly, so does Colin's proposal to her in Portuguese). Martina McCutcheon ( Natalie) is excellent as well. The others not so well ( Emma Thompson is not one of favorites ( never was)), and the Kid scenes were terrible.