Love Actually

Written and directed by Richard Curtis and produced by Duncan Kenworthy (the team behind Notting Hill and Four Weddings And A Funeral) this zingy Brit-com weaves a vivid crazy quilt of interlocking or unrelated vignettes all dealing with the subject of love over the Christmas holidays in London.

The big name cast includes Hugh Grant as a prime minister who falls for a member of staff, Liam Neeson as a widower counselling his son in the ways of romance, Laura Linney as a shy woman working up the nerve to ask out a colleague, Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman as a couple faced with infidelity, and Colin Firth as a writer who falls for his Portuguese maid. Additionally, a pair of porn film stand-ins bond on the set, an artist fantasises about his friend's wife; and perhaps funniest of all, an ageing rock star (Bill Nighy) tries to make his comeback with a Christmas novelty song.

The likes of Billy Bob Thornton, Rowan Atkinson and Denise Richards turn up in cameos, helping make this film a throwback to those all-star, multi-plotted comedies of the 1960s and '70s, such as It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963). With Curtis's comedic credentials and the star wattage of pros like Grant, Neeson and Thompson, Love Actually is a laugh-packed affair, with more than a few tears to be shed along the way, and a startling amount of bawdy raunchiness.

First released: Friday 19th March 2004

Extra features

• Commentary by writer/director Richard Curtis
• Deleted scenes with introduction by Richard Curtis
• The Music of Love Actually, introduced by Richard Curtis
• Kelly Clarkson's The Trouble With Love Is music video
• Full Christmas Is All Around music video
• The Storytellers featurette