Cast of characters and storylines
Billy Mack and Joe
With the help of his longtime manager Joe, aging rock and roll legend Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) records a Christmas variation of The Troggs' classic hit "Love Is All Around." Despite his honest admission that it is a "festering turd of a record," the singer promotes the release in the hope it will become the Christmas number one single. During his publicity tour, Billy promises to perform the song naked on television should his recording hit the top spot, and he keeps his word - albeit while wearing boots and holding a strategically placed guitar - when it does. After briefly celebrating his victory at a party hosted by Sir Elton John, Billy arrives at Joe's flat and, explaining Christmas is a time to be with the people you love, suggests the two get drunk and watch porn. Billy and Joe's story is the only one exploring platonic love, and the two characters are unrelated to any of the other characters in film, although a few of the other characters are shown watching Billy Mack on their TVs.
Juliet, Peter and Mark
Juliet (Keira Knightley) and Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) are wed in a lovely ceremony videotaped by Mark, Peter's best friend and best man. When the professional wedding video turns out to be dreadful, Juliet shows up at Mark's door in hopes of getting a copy of his footage, despite the fact that he has always been cold and unfriendly to her. The video turns out to consist entirely of close-ups of her, and she realizes that he is secretly in love with her. Mortified, Mark explains that his coldness to her is "a self-preservation thing" and excuses himself. On Christmas Eve, Mark shows up at Juliet and Peter's door posing as a carol singer with a portable CD player, and uses a series of cardboard signs to tell her that "at Christmas you tell the truth", yet, "without hope or agenda... to me, you are perfect." As he leaves, Juliet runs after Mark to give him a kiss and a sweet, sympathetic embrace, before returning to Peter. Mark tells himself, "Enough, enough now," perhaps acknowledging that it's time to move on with his life.
Jamie and Aurélia
Writer Jamie (Colin Firth) first appears preparing to attend Juliet and Peter's wedding. His girlfriend (Sienna Guillory) misses the ceremony allegedly due to illness, but when Jamie unexpectedly returns home before the reception, he discovers she is having an affair with his brother. Jamie retires to the solitude of his French cottage to immerse himself in his writing. Here he meets Portuguese housekeeper Aurélia (Lúcia Moniz), who speaks only her native tongue. Despite the language barrier they manage to communicate with each other, with subtitles indicating they are at times in agreement with each other, and sometimes of opposite minds. Jamie returns to England, where he takes a course in Portuguese. On Christmas Eve, he decides to ditch celebrations with his family to fly to Marseille to propose to Aurélia in his mangled Portuguese, and she accepts using her recently learned English.
Harry, Karen and Mia
Harry (Alan Rickman) is the managing director of a design agency. Mia (Heike Makatsch), his secretary, clearly has designs on him. His nascent mid-life crisis allows him tentatively to welcome her attention, and for Christmas he buys her an expensive necklace from jewellery salesman Rufus (Rowan Atkinson), who takes a very long time adding ever more elaborate wrapping while Harry becomes increasingly nervous with the fear of detection. Meanwhile, Harry's wife Karen (Emma Thompson) is busy dealing with their children, Daisy (Lulu Popplewell) and Bernard (William Wadham) who are appearing in the school Nativity; her brother David; and her friend Daniel, who has just lost his wife to cancer. Karen discovers the necklace in Harry's coat pocket and assumes it is a gift for her, only to be given the CD Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now to "continue [Karen's] emotional education," as Harry puts it, instead. She immediately concludes Harry is having an affair, and briefly breaks down alone in her bedroom before composing herself to attend the children's play with her husband. Following the play, Karen confronts Harry, who admits that he has been a "classic fool," a point driven home to him when he sees Karen enthusiastically congratulating their children. As for Mia, she is shown smiling while trying on the necklace.
David and Natalie
Karen's brother, the recently-elected Prime Minister David (Hugh Grant), is young, handsome, and single. Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) is a junior member of the household staff at 10 Downing St. and regularly serves his tea and biscuits. Something seems to click between them but, with the exception of some mild flirting, neither pursues the attraction. When the President of the United States (Billy Bob Thornton) pays a visit, his conservative attitude and refusal to change any policies leave the British advisors stymied. It is only after David walks in to find the President attempting to seduce Natalie he stands up for the UK, saying it is still a great country for things like Harry Potter and David Beckham's right foot ("[and his] left foot, come to that"), and embarrassing the President in a nationally televised press conference by saying that "a friend who bullies us is no longer a friend." Concerned that his affections for Natalie are affecting his political judgment, David asks for her to be "redistributed." Later, while looking through a sampling of Christmas cards, David comes across a card signed "I'm actually yours. With Love, Your Natalie." Encouraged by this he sets out to find her. After much doorbell ringing, including a ring at Mia's doorstep, David eventually finds Natalie at her family's home. In exchange for some time with Natalie, David offers to drive everyone to the local school for the play, the same one in which his niece and nephew are appearing. The two watch the show from backstage, and their budding relationship is exposed to the audience when a curtain at the rear of the stage is raised during the big finale and David and Natalie are caught in a passionate kiss.
Daniel and Carol; Sam and Joanna
Daniel (Liam Neeson) has just lost his wife Joanna to a protracted illness, leaving him and stepson Sam (Thomas Sangster) to fend for themselves. Daniel must deal with his sudden responsibility, as well as the evident end of his love life ("That was a done deal long ago", he says to Sam, "unless, of course, Claudia Schiffer calls, in which case I want you out of the house straight away, you wee motherless mongrel."). Sam, too, is especially forlorn about something, and eventually reveals that he is in love with a girl from his school, also named Joanna, who, he assumes, doesn't know he exists. After seeing Billy Mack's new video in a store window, he comes up with a plan, based on the premise that "Girls love musicians . . . even the really weird ones get girlfriends." With Daniel's encouragement, Sam teaches himself to play the drums, eventually acting as drummer for Joanna's performance of "All I Want for Christmas Is You" at the same aforementioned school play. Unfortunately, Sam fails to make his meaning clear, and he and Daniel must chase Joanna to the airport where her family is heading back to the United States. Thanks to another passenger heading through airport security, the jewellery clerk Rufus, as well as the gate staff being distracted by watching Billy Mack's naked performance on TV monitors, Sam is able to sneak through security to confess his love to Joanna before she boards the plane. Sam finds Joanna and tells her. He is brought back to his step-dad by security guards. Joanna runs back to Sam and kisses him on the cheek. Meanwhile, just before Daniel and Sam's hasty departure from the Nativity play for the airport, Daniel bumps into another parent, Carol (played by Claudia Schiffer), and sparks immediately fly.
Sarah and Karl
Sarah (Laura Linney) first appears at the wedding of Juliet and Peter, sitting next to her friend Jamie. We learn she works at Harry's design agency and is in love with creative director Karl (Rodrigo Santoro), a not-so-secret obsession recognized by Harry, who implores her to say something to him since it's Christmas and Karl is aware of her feelings anyway. Unfortunately for all concerned, Sarah has a mentally ill brother who calls her mobile phone incessantly. Sarah feels responsible for her brother and constantly puts her life on hold to support him. Sarah's chance at making love with Karl comes following her company's Christmas party (hosted at an art gallery run by Mark), but she abandons the opportunity for her brother's sake. She wishes Karl "Merry Christmas" as he leaves the office on Christmas Eve, and it is clear he wants to say something to her, but he departs and she breaks down in tears before picking up her phone to answer a call from her brother.
Colin, Tony and the Wisconsin girls
After several horrible blunders attempting to woo various English women, including Mia and the caterer at Juliet and Peter's wedding, Colin Frissell (Kris Marshall) informs his friend Tony he plans to go to America and find love there because, in his estimation, the U.S. is filled to the brim with gorgeous women who will fall head over heels for him because of his "cute British accent" ("Stateside, I'm Prince William... without the weird family.") The first place he goes after landing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is a bar where he meets three stunningly attractive women who, after falling for his Basildon accent, invite him to stay at their home, specifically in their bed, with them and their housemate Harriet ("the sexy one").
John and Judy
John (Martin Freeman) and Judy (Joanna Page), who up to this point were unknown to each other, work as stand-ins for the sex scenes in a movie. Colin's friend Tony is part of the film crew, and gives them directions as to the activities they should simulate so that lighting checks and such can be completed. Despite their blatantly sexual actions, and frequent nudity, they are very naturally comfortable with each other, discussing politics and movies as if they'd known one another for years. John even tells Judy that "it is nice to have someone I can just chat with." The two carefully and cautiously pursue a relationship, and see the play at the local school together with John's brother.
Finale
The film begins with a voiceover from David, commenting that, whenever he gets gloomy with 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. The film ends with a scene at the airport enacted to the tune of The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows".
Billy Mack arrives with a gorgeous six-foot blonde woman pushing his luggage cart. He refers to her as one of two (and possibly more) new girlfriends, indicating his career has taken a turn for the better. Joe is there to greet him, and their relationship remains solid.
Jamie and Aurélia, now engaged, return from Portugal and are met by Peter, Juliet, and Mark. Aurelia jokes that if Jamie had told her his friends were so handsome, she might have chosen a different Englishman. Jamie then jokes that she doesn't speak English well.
Harry returns home from a trip abroad, and Karen and his children are there to greet him. Harry is delighted to see his kids again; his exchange with Karen is more reserved, but suggests that, though the two are not on steady terms, they intend to give their marriage a chance.
Daniel and Carol are there, hand in hand, with Carol's son and Sam as he awaits Joanna's return from the States. When Joanna walks through the doors, Sam says, "Hello," restraining the impulse to embrace her. Daniel curses, "He should have kissed her..." but Carol soothes him, "No, that's cool."
While waiting for Colin, Tony runs into John and Judy, about to depart on a trip together. Judy happily displays an engagement ring on her finger.
Colin returns to England from his magical trip to the US with Harriet, the fourth Wisconsin girl, for himself and her sister Carla for Tony.
As David walks through the gate, Natalie - heedless of the surrounding paparazzi - runs straight through his entourage and leaps into his arms, planting a big kiss on him.
The film ends with a montage of anonymous persons greeting their arriving loved ones that slowly enlarges and fills the screen, eventually with a shape of a heart appearing.
Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Actually
