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Romance films are always popular during the holiday season, and Curtis is considered a champion of the genre. But mainstream press critics have mixed feelings about Love Actually. Religious press critics are mostly displeased with what they argue has little to do with real love.

Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) writes, "There are humorous moments to be sure. There are also some genuinely sincere, heartfelt sentiments expressed. Certainly, some stories are more effective than others and some are funnier. But they all share one thing in common. Oddly enough—it isn't love."

Anne Navarro (CNS) disagrees. "It doesn't confine itself to romantic love … but allows for the true love that exists among friends, that flows from parents to children, and is present between siblings. The film's driving force is that love in its every form is within grasp, if only we reach for it. Clever dialogue, several perfectly delivered zingers and fine performances camouflage the narrative's flimsy parts." But she does have one objection: "The film is seriously marred by the inclusion of the unwarranted, brazen sexual visuals."

Michael Medved (Crosswalk) says it "represents the cinematic equivalent of one of those elegant, charming Christmas confections … gorgeous to the eye and sweet to the taste, but providing almost nothing in terms of substantive nourishment."

Steven Isaac (Plugged In) says, "Love is all that matters here. Morals don't matter. Respect doesn't matter. Propriety doesn't matter. Marital status doesn't matter. Gender doesn't matter. It's a disgrace to even call it love under such conditions. Lust and codependency would do much better."

Mainstream critics tend to agree the film spreads its many plots rather thin, but they differ over the success of this approach. Ryan Gilbey (The Independent) is unimpressed with "its self-referential irony, its preference for tics and eccentricities over flesh-and-blood characterisation, and its escalating structure of competing climaxes. Love Actually is the Kill Bill of romantic comedies."

Critics sing along with Anything But Love

Bringing back the style and glamour of '50s-era Technicolor musicals, Anything But Love follows the story of a young cabaret singer with a dream of the big time. Isabel Rose plays Billie Golden, a present-day music lover who wants to return to days gone by in hopes of becoming the next Rita Hayworth. Charmed by a young hotshot (Cameron Bancroft) and then befriended by a talented pianist (Andrew McCarthy), she finds herself torn between love and opportunity.

Gerri Pare (Catholic News Service) says, "The movie's modest charms lie not in the familiar love triangle but in the creative way director Robert Cary has stretched his low-budget film to include fantasy musical sequences and period detail from 50 years ago that make Billie's love of that era so convincing. While the ending is too pat and cuddly, it's hard not to enjoy the plucky spirit of this feel-good movie."

Movieguide's reviewer says it's "not a horrible film," but concludes that it is "easily forgettable, somewhat amateurish, and contains some content for mature audiences."

Mystery, madness, and skin disease in The Singing Detective

Dan Dark is a detective-story writer who has suffered since childhood from psoriatic arthorpathy, a degenerative disease of the skin and bones. In Keith Gordon's film based on Dennis Potter's popular British television miniseries The Singing Detective, Dark finds himself in the hospital, his disease progressing. In his delirium, he struggles to make sense of his life, and the lines between truth and fiction begin to blur.

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November (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47