Brow Beat

The Honest Trailer That Proves Love Actually Is a Horrible Rom-Com

The holidays are here, which means warm, wonderful traditions like Thanksgiving pies, Cowboys games, and Christmas carols. Another tradition, observed far and wide: a viewing of new rom-com classic Love Actually, which is no longer very new, not very romantic, and never very good. The folks at Honest Trailers agree, and they’ve supplied a spot-on critique of the film’s ensemble mediocrity and spoon-fed bromides.

I don’t chafe at the film’s cliché—as a rom-com lover, I acknowledge and respect the power of sap. But, as the trailer points out, Love Actually is hollow, overlong, and more about meet-cutes than love; its storylines are juggled so quickly that we never have the opportunity to invest in, or care about, the umpteen lovers on screen. If the movie had followed a single character—Hugh Grant, obviously—then maybe we’d have a real holiday classic. As is, all we have is a guy hitting on his best friend’s wife.