Just over 15 years ago, the modern Christmas movie classic Love Actually hit the silver screen. The movie loosely weaves together eight different stories involving love during a short period of time over the holiday season. Since its release, it has generated a fair bit of praise for its unique storytelling and its depth of character. Equally, it receives its fair share of criticism for failing to portray a realistic love story that resonates more with a wider audience. Two Australian friends, Natalie Bochenski and Amy Currie, stand on opposite sides in this debate and spend the next hilarious hour making their case for whether you should love/hate Love Actually.
Currie stands in the ‘love corner’, buying in completely to the setting of the movie and decked out in her best Christmas sweater. She does remind the audience that Christmas in Australia takes place in summer, further showing her commitment. Bochenski, more cynical about the outlandish plots of the movie, tries to counter Currie and bring her back into reality.
During the beginning of the show, they provide a brief recap of the various different stories. This allows those who have not seen the movie at all, or recently, to get up to speed and join in on the fun. The two argue beautifully, reminding the audience of their own ridiculous arguments with best friends. The pettiness of Bochenski comes through strong as she hate-watches the movie to gain more evidence to counter her foe. Currie pushes all these facts and obvious weaknesses in plot aside, and focuses on all her favourite parts of the romantic comedy. The pair do well to bring about audience interaction, and break their character moulds to agree on two key facts– Colin Firth is a romantic god, and Keira Knightley is a waste of film.
The overall show transcends normal banter between friends. They create an environment in which you somehow get passionate about a movie that is more than a decade old. Not only do you laugh constantly in the hour, but you also find yourself showing indignation toward characters you haven’t thought about in years. This ultimately feels a genuine show that lands at least with anyone who likes to argue pointless things with friends, and more so with fans of Love Actually.