soundtrack review: love actually
12 times. That’s how many times I watch Love Actually in a year. At least. If someone asks me what movie I want to watch, I say Love Actually 9 out of 10 times. If I have to watch one movie for the rest of my life, it would be Love Actually. Safe to say, I am absolutely completely, intensely, head over heels in love, actually, with this movie.
Love Actually tells the story of a group of people at Christmas time. There is Billy Mack, the ex-heroin addict rockstar that tries to make a comeback with a Christmas song, there is Sarah, who has had a crush on her colleague Karl since forever, there is Jamie, who gets dumped but falls in love with the cleaning lady, there is Colin “God of Sex”, who wants to find a girlfriend in America, there is Harry, who cheats on his wife, Karen, with his employee, there’s Mark, who’s in love with his best friend’s wife, Juliet, there’s the president who experiences love at first sight with a woman on his staff, there’s John and Judy who fall in love on a movie set and finally there’s Sam, the 11-year-old boy who falls in love for the very first time.
It’s this combination of comfort characters, hilarious lines (no, seriously, I am contemplating tattooing “I hate uncle Jamie” on my left ankle), the 2003 fashion, the romance and the impeccable storylines that intertwine that make for the best romantic comedy of all time. But there’s one other element, on top of all this, that’s even more important. The wonderfully curated soundtrack that makes you want to dance like Minister-President David who has just stood up to the president of America and cry like Karen, the mother of two who gets cheated on by her husband.
All the stories the film shows portray different sides of love and all these parts are perfectly captured by the music chosen to accompany them. I will discuss a few of my favorite songs that are featured on the soundtrack album and show you how they function in the context of this movie, the best Christmas movie of all time!
Jump (For My Love)
(22) Love Actually (3/10) Movie CLIP — The Dancing Prime Minister (2003) HD — YouTube
An iconic moment in the movie is when Minister-President David has a dance to a song that comes up on the radio especially for him as he just delivered a strong speech. The song has one of the catchiest melodies ever, I can’t sit still when I hear it. The energetic delivery by The Pointer Sisters and the lively lyrics make it the perfect song for this moment. The song makes a reappearance when David decides to go get the love of his life (that he let go of at first) and he does a powerful walk towards his car, which I love because I’m absolutely obsessed with musical themes in movies.
Here With Me
This is the song that plays when Juliet accidentally finds out that Mark is in love with her. While Dido sings: “I am what I am, I do what I want, but I can’t hide”, Mark questions all his life decisions. And that is why this song fits so perfectly. As he walks away in embarrassment, the song builds up, to drop perfectly at the moment that Mark does a frustrated squat in the middle of the street. I love that moment and the timing. Look it up if you haven’t noticed it before.
Both Sides Now
(22) Love Actually — Joni Mitchell — Both Sides Now — YouTube
When Karen receives a gift from her husband on Christmas, she hopes it is the beautiful necklace that she found in his pocket, but instead it is a cd from Joni Mitchell, her favorite artist. Knowing the necklace was given to another woman, she leaves the room, plays Both Sides Now and silently cries. In Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell sings about three things: clouds, love and life and how experiencing both sides (good and bad) makes her realize that she doesn’t know them at all. It suits the scene so well, since she goes from being so happy, celebrating Christmas with her family, to feeling so betrayed. It’s easily one of the most emotional moments of the movie, enhanced by the emotional lyrics of the song.
Glasgow Theme
As the title of this track says, this is the theme of the movie. Where the ‘Glasgow’ stands for is a little bit of a mystery, as the movie primarily takes place in London. This melody comes back over and over again and can be found in each of the storylines. It really stands out in the movie and it’s a nice way to tie all the storylines together.
Christmas Is All Around/Love Is All Around
One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Juliet walks down the aisle to an orchestral version of Love Is All Around by Wet Wet Wet. Unfortunately, this orchestral version can’t be found on the soundtrack album, but there is a slight comfort offered by the Christmas Is All Around, the comeback track by Billy Mack (one of the characters). It is honestly just a very bad version of Love Is All Around which makes it obviously amazing.
God Only Knows
As we are back at the airport where the movie started, where all the characters fall into each other’s arms, God Only Knows by The Beach Boys can be heard. One of the most romantic songs of all time. It is the perfect feel-good song to end the movie with.
In conclusion, I love everything about Love Actually. It is my absolute comfort movie, music included. Every song just fits. I listened to the soundtrack album once again while I wrote this review and I had to get up a few times to jump around. So now it’s time for you to finish reading this review, close the tab, get up and dance like you have never danced before to Jump (For My Love) (or cry to Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now, whatever suits your mood ;)).
