Love Actually (film)

Love Actually
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Curtis
Produced by	Duncan Kenworthy Tim Bevan Eric Fellner Debra Hayward Liza Chasin
Written by	Richard Curtis
Starring	Hugh Grant Liam Neeson Colin Firth Laura Linney Emma Thompson Alan Rickman Keira Knightley Martine McCutcheon Bill Nighy Rowan Atkinson
Music by	Craig Armstrong
Cinematography	Michael Coulter
Edited by	Nick Moore
Production company	StudioCanal Working Title Films DNA Films
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	14 November 2003 (2003-11-14) (United States) 21 November 2003 (2003-11-21) (United Kingdom)
Running time	136 minutes
Country	United Kingdom US France
Language	English
Budget	US$45 million £30 million
Box office	$246.9 million

Love Actually is a 2003 Christmas-themed romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television projects. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress. Most of the film was filmed on location in London. The story begins five weeks before Christmas and is played out in a weekly countdown until the holiday, followed by an epilogue that takes place one month later.

The United States release was on 14 November 2003 and a week later in the United Kingdom, where it debuted to positive reviews, but received mixed-to-positive reviews in the US. The film was a box-office success, grossing almost $247 million worldwide on a budget of $45 million.

The film begins with a voiceover from David (Hugh Grant) commenting that whenever he gets gloomy about the state of the world he thinks about the arrivals terminal at Heathrow Airport, and the pure uncomplicated love felt as friends and families welcome their arriving loved ones. David's voiceover also relates that all the messages left by the people who died on the 9/11 planes were messages of love and not hate. The film then tells the 'love stories' of many people:

With the help of his longtime manager Joe (Gregor Fisher), rock and roll legend Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) records a Christmas variation of The Troggs' classic hit "Love Is All Around". Although he thinks the record is terrible, Mack promotes the release in the hope it will become the Christmas number one single. The song does reach number one; after briefly celebrating his victory at a party hosted by Sir Elton John, Billy discerns that Joe is in need of affection and suggests that he and Joe celebrate Christmas by getting drunk and watching porn.