ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE.

Writer Richard Curtis’s directing debut is one big, loveable mess, a romantic comedy with a huge cast of people who keep falling in love with each other.

There are too many of them actually, the stories are unremarkable and they don’t always mix in a satisfying way. But there are enough warm and funny sequences to keep one amused. Christmas is all around, and those kinds of fuzzy sentiments also help carry the film.

Among the cast highlights: Hugh Grant, who’s excellent as the Prime Minister who falls in love with a maid, and Bill Nighy who’s fun as the aging, very unpretentious rock star. 

2003-U.S.-U.K.-France. 135 min. Color. Widescreen. Written and directed by Richard Curtis. Cast: Hugh Grant (The Prime Minister), Emma Thompson (Karen), Liam Neeson (Daniel), Laura Linney, Alan Rickman, Colin Firth, Bill Nighy, Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, Rowan Atkinson, Billy Bob Thornton, Denise Richards, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Martin Freeman, January Jones. Cameo: Claudia Schiffer. 

Trivia: Jeanne Moreau appears briefly in a scene in Marseilles.

BAFTA: Best Supporting Actor (Nighy).