Movies from the Heart—Love Actually

I’ve talked about Love Actually [2003], by Richard Curtis, before when I looked at Christmas movies, but it’s worth revisiting because it’s definitely a movie from the heart.

Take a look at the trailer for the film.

Why is this trailer particularly interesting? Because it begins by naming Richard Curtis’s three previous hits in the romantic comedy genre—Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary. Why does it do this? Because they want you to know that if you liked those films, you’ll like this new one—and their job is to get you into the theatre, right?

What’s really important about this, though, is what you as a writer can learn from it. The job of the studio is to get people in the seats. And, as the brilliant screenwriter William Goldman said about Hollywood and the business of the movies studios: “Nobody knows anything.” BUT the studio feels that if someone had hits before, they must know something about how to get those people into the theatre. Consequently, the studio feels working with writers and directors they know have had hits in the past gives them a better chance of succeeding.

THAT’S why it’s so hard for you, if you’re a new writer, to get your work made. You have no proven track record. So, bottom line? Your work has to be SOOOO good that they’re sure it can work onscreen, even though you don’t have that track record. Remember that as you write, remember how hard you’re going to have to work to try and buck the system.

And you know, the critics didn’t like Love Actually—and the studio didn’t either. But it made over $250 million worldwide, so then the studios loved it.

Why? Why does this film work? What makes it so popular with film-goers?

It’s love. It really is, actually, all about love. And in multiple forms, among all kinds of people.

Right from the beginning, when the main character narrates footage of people meeting at Heathrow airport, he talks about how love is all around. We see people reuniting with their loved ones and it’s just joyful. And that’s what kicks off this film—joy, hope and love. And these weren’t actors in the opening shots at Heathrow—they were real people. And they give you the feeling that love actually IS all around.

One of the things Curtis did that I’d caution you about is write multiple stories and interweave them—in this case, 9 stories. At least one too many, I think. You could lose the story about the two stand-ins and the movie wouldn’t suffer. But the main thing for you to realize as a writer is how incredibly difficult it is to interweave all these stories!! Don’t aim for 8 or 9—stick to 4 or 5!! As a newer writer, this is one of the more difficult things you could tackle so don’t make it so difficult that the reader/producer/agent can’t follow your story!

Next week, let’s look at a romantic movie that’s aimed at an older demographic: Something’s Gotta Give.

Copyright © Diane Lake

16Jun24

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com