Richard Curtis's 2003 film Love Actually tells the stories of eight London couples at Christmas. The film continues to be hugely popular today, and not just during the holidays. In fact, a mini-sequel was made in 2017 called Red Nose Day Actually, with many of the original cast members returning.
The cast is comprised of Hugh Grant as the British Prime Minister; Emma Thompson as his sister Karen; Alan Rickman as her husband, Harry; Keira Knightley as Juliet; Andrew Lincoln as the man who pines over her; and Chiwetel Ejiofor as his best friend. Also rounding out the already-impressive cast is Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Bill Nighy, and Colin Firth. And that star-studded ensemble speak a lot of memorable lines.
"There Was More Than One Lobster Present At The Birth Of Jesus?"
Karen's daughter Daisy comes home from school one day to announce that the nativity play had been cast, proclaiming, "I'm the lobster!" Karen looks confused. "In the nativity play?" she clarifies.
"Yeah, First Lobster," Daisy replies. Now Karen is even dumbfounded. Turns out that an octopus and a few other questionable creatures were present at the birth of Jesus, if this school play is to be believed.
"The Country Of Shakespeare, Churchill, The Beatles, Sean Connery, Harry Potter, David Beckham's Right Foot, David Beckham's Left Foot..."
As the Prime Minister, David inevitably has his big moment where he faces off against the U.S. President in a live broadcast session. After seeing him take advantage of Natalie and feeling inferior during meetings, David thinks it's time to make his stand.
He reminds everyone in the room, including the president, what makes Britain so great. Grant portrays the prime minister in a charming and endearing way so that his words draw laughter from even the most serious politicians in the room.
"Two Years, Seven Months, Three Days, And I Suppose An Hour And Thirty Minutes."
Viewers first meet Laura Linney's Sarah— one of the only American characters in the film— at work. Her boss is Harry, portrayed by Alan Rickman. And he's not the sort of man to mince words.
He asks Sarah exactly how long she's been working there. "Two years, seven months, three days, and I suppose two hours," she responds without hesitation. Then Harry asks her how long she's been in love with Karl, the "enigmatic chief designer". After a moment of shock, she again replies with precision.
"To Me, You Are Perfect."
One of the most iconic and meme-able scenes from the movie is Andrew Lincoln's signed confession. His character Mark is best friends with Peter, who has just married Juliet. It turns out that Mark is also in love with Juliet, but he's never said anything.
On Christmas Eve, he shows up outside of their house and pretends to be a carol singer. His signs read: "... let me say, without hope or agenda, just because it's Christmas (and at Christmas, you tell the truth), to me, you are perfect."
"And Now I've Gone And Said Sh*t. Twice."
Natalie's first time meeting David doesn't go quite as smoothly as she would have hoped. She accidentally calls him David instead of "sir", then says, "Sh*t, I can't believe I've just said that."
David laughs as she realizes her mistake. "And now I've gone and said sh*t. Twice." He laughs it off and replies, "You could've said f*** and then we'd have been in real trouble." Of course, the next sentence the nervous Natalie utters includes this very curse word.
"Worse Than The Total Agony Of Being In Love?"
Daniel is having a hard time bonding with his stepson Sam after the death of his wife, Sam's mom. Sam keeps locking himself in his room and not speaking to Daniel. He assumes it's because the kid is grieving or resentful that he's left with his stepdad instead of his mother.
But when Daniel finally gets Sam to sit down and speak with him, the answer isn't what he was expecting. "Well, the truth is, actually...I'm in love." Daniel laughs, relieved, and amused by the child's serious confession. He thought it was something worse, but when Sam responds, "Worse than the total agony of being in love?" Daniel sees he has a point.
"Let's Get The Sh*t Kicked Out Of Us By Love!"
Daniel and Sam grow closer over the course of the film as he helps him understand love and deal with heartbreak. But towards the end, Sam decides to finally make his move.
Daniel meets someone at the school Christmas concert, then encourages Sam to find Joanna, but she's already left for the airport. This proves to be no problem because Daniel is happy to drive him there, where the child is assisted by Rowan Atkinson's antics as he races against time to tell Joanna how he feels before it's too late.
"Don't Buy Drugs — Become A Popstar And They Give You Them For Free!"
The film opens with a fading popstar trying to record an altered version of "Love Is All Around", a Christmas pop song Billy himself calls "sh*t". His manager Joe organizes for Billy to appear on various talk shows to promote the song.
The interviewers ask him to send a message to all the kids out there on Christmas. Billy says, "Don't buy drugs." Everyone smiles, relieved. Then Billy continues, and everyone scrambles to cut to the commercials— but the damage has been done.
"Tell Her That You Love Her. You've Got Nothing To Lose And You'll Always Regret It If You Don't."
As Daniel and Sam bond, Daniel tries to help navigate his first love. He gets Sam to watch Titanic with him, then suggests that he become a musician, like Joanna.
However, at the Christmas concert, Joanna doesn't seem to have noticed Sam's transformation. Still, Daniel inspires him to have one last go and be brave. "Tell her that you love her. You've got nothing to lose and you'll always regret it if you don't." It's a great piece of advice.
"Love, Actually, Is All Around."
The movie opens and closes at Heathrow Airport, where the narrator— voiced by Hugh Grant— explains that he goes there whenever he loses hope in humanity.
In the final scene, he says, "When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge— they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love, actually, is all around."