When the scrappy rock star played by Bill Nighy finally learns the lyrics to the holiday version of Love is All Around (aptly renamed Christmas is All Around), he realizes how terrible it is. His manager agrees with a smile that it’s nonsense, but “pure gold”. And so Heavenly Love appears on the scene, a two-hour whirlwind of improbable, dubious and downright silly love scenes, supported by an all-star cast. The world may have moved on from the days of dial-up internet, Apple iPods and low-waisted jeans in 20 years, but Richard Curtis’ 2003 holiday drama Love in Heaven remains a Christmas classic despite its controversial, she wrote BBC.
Intertwining romantic stories of middle-class characters who profess their love for each other at Christmas, it faces annual criticism from critics, audiences and even some of those involved in the film, who point to unrealistic portrayals of love, questionable character decisions and stale jokes.
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Few are more critical than Curtis himself, who seems to add a new grievance to his list every Christmas. At a meeting with the actors last year, the screenwriter and director admitted that the film is “out of date at times”. “The lack of diversity makes me feel uncomfortable and a little stupid,” he added.
Perhaps that’s why he opened his holiday variety show Christmas Actually with a montage of people hugging at an airport, with a voiceover by Hugh Grant saying that love is not only shared at Christmas, but also at Eid al-Fitr and Hanukkah. Curtis also called himself “inconsiderate” for including fat jokes in the film “that aren’t funny anymore”, adding that he “let himself down” when he cut the LGBT storyline from the final version of the film.
Despite its faults and missteps, many viewers want from the holiday movie exactly what Love in the Sky offers: easy viewing, a cozy Christmas setting and an unabashed celebration of love.
“I don’t expect Christmas movies to be masterpieces with great social politics. I’m happy when they’re cheap romances,” said film critic Helen O’Hara. “An incredible cast, really great moments that everyone likes, and funny gags make us overlook the bad bits and add a sense of nostalgia to today’s viewing,” she added.
The amount of actual love is debatable, but all will agree that Grant’s crooning around the Downing Street offices to The Pointer Sisters’ 1983 version of Jump is incredibly funny.
Of course, the Prime Minister would never take a police escort to a “dubious part of Wandsworth” on Christmas Day to profess his love for his secretary. And no one would profess their love to their best friend’s wife through hints card A3 format. But it’s these iconic, if slightly unconventional, scenes that live on even after the end of the film.
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It was the real Prime Minister Boris Johnson who in the parliamentary elections in 2019 parodoval cue card scene with the somewhat less romantic declaration that they will “complete Brexit by next year”.
Then there’s BAFTA-nominated Emma Thompson as Karen, a mother of two who discovers her husband’s near-affair with his smug secretary Mia. “The scene in Love in Heaven where Emma Thompson opens Joni Mitchell’s CD is one of the best scenes in movie history,” wrote one fan on the social network X. On tiktok, this scene is the most viewed scene from the movie, with one post reaching almost ten million views.
As Colin Firth falls into yet another pond (once in Pride and Prejudice wasn’t enough), Rowan Atkinson appears as a top gift packer with a gift box that’s “much more than a bag” and Grant seeks relationship advice from Margaret Thatcher (the first and last time she’s called a “coquette”), the film turns out to have its share of wonderful, offbeat and weird moments.
So what is the secret to the longevity of Love in Heaven? Christmas. At other times of the year, we might be more critical of the naive plot, cheesy displays of love and dated jokes, but at Christmas we let ourselves be lulled by the sincere optimism of Hugh Grant, who says: “If you look around you, you’ll find that love really is all around us “. Even for those who love to hate this movie, it’s not hard to get swept up in the holiday spirit and good feeling that overcomes its imperfections, especially when they’re stuffing themselves with candy and wrapping presents.
Hollywood magazine Variety recently published a ranking of the 45th best Christmas movies, where Heavenly Love was placed among films such as The Grinch, Black Christmas, A Christmas Story, Deadly Trap, Edward Scissorhands or Batman Returns.
2023-12-24 19:44:00
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