Love Actually

Directed by Richard Curtis

Starring Hugh Grant Liam Neeson

Universal

Rated R

129 mins.

Grade: C+

“Love Actually” is like a puppy that piddles on the floor and then comes along to lick your face for attention. It’s at times annoying, and you want to swat it with a newspaper, but it’s so lovable that you can’t stay mad at it.

This romantic ensemble comedy marks the directorial debut of screenwriter Richard Curtis, a man who knows a little about snuggly Brit romances after having written or contributed to movies like “Notting Hill,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and “Bridget Jones’ Diary.” Curtis doesn’t stray far from the material that made him famous, and it’s abundantly clear that the filmmaker wanted to patch together the romantic comedy to end all romantic comedies. This wobbly, overstuffed movie is so chockablock with plots and subplots that it’s a wonder that it’s legs don’t collapse beneath it.

Curtis’ ambitions are so great that he thinks he’s created no less than an exploration of love in all its many agonizing facets. And he’s assembled what appears to be half the cr