The Love Actually Scene That Annoys Fans
Each year, as the holiday season approaches, people seek comfort from the cold in the warmth of their loved ones' company, festivities, and, well, Christmas movies. A long-standing tradition of enjoying feel-good stories that revolve around the themes of happiness, giving, and love. In this genre of movies, the name "Love Actually" is quite a popular one.
"Love Actually" had a weighted ensemble that included actors like Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, and many more. The 2003 Christmas romcom, which traverses boundaries with its multi-story narrative set in three different countries: USA, England, and France, is a Golden Globe-nominated movie. It was a popular success when it came out and has also achieved a "classic" holiday movie tag. But in the years since its release, many have also raised issues with its inter-connected love stories.
Whether it is the infamous love declaration that Andrew Lincoln's character Mark makes to his best friend's wife (Keira Knightley) on Christmas eve or the love story between the British Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) and a member of his staff (Martine McCutcheon), audiences have raised many questions about several stories and arcs. Among many questionable scenes in the movie, there is one scene that particularly annoys fans.
The Christmas gift scene with Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson is heartbreaking
In one of the stories in the movie, Harry (Rickman) is unfaithful to his wife Karen ((Thompson). Harry and Karen are a middle-aged couple living a comfortable life with two kids — a seemingly happy family. But Harry has also been dating his assistant and Karen's doubts about it are confirmed while exchanging gifts for Christmas. The gold necklace Karen knew Harry had bought doesn't turn out to be her gift. Her gift, instead, is a Joni Mitchell CD.
But the most heartbreaking part of the scene is Karen's reaction. A mother of two kids excited for Christmas, Karen has to take a moment to compose herself and then pretend as if she is fine. This scene, with its painful impact on Karen and her decision to hide her emotions to spare her children, left many fans in agony.
On a Reddit thread discussing annoying movie scenes, several Redditors pointed out the "Love Actually" scene. U/linzcro talked about the scene and explained why it impacted her, "As a married mom who has had her feelings hurt (not like that), it hits hard."
U/babymin shared what they wanted Karen's reaction to be. "That scene got me so mad. The universe was practically yelling at him not to do it but nooo he just had to. Gosh I wish she divorced him," they said.
This is just another grievance that fans have with "Love Actually," but, over the years, it has remained a famous Christmas movie nonetheless.