PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Double bill of UK romantic comedies. In 'Love Actually' (2003) Richard Curtis (writer of 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'Notting Hill') turns his hand to directing with this British rom-com. Eight stories involving the love lives of more than a dozen characters are brought together over one Christmas and climax on Christmas Eve; from the recent widower Daniel (Liam Neeson), the failing marriage of Karen (Emma Thompson) and Harry (Alan Rickman), the aging rocker (Bill Nighy) who just wants to get paid (and laid if possible), through to the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) falling for a member of Number 10's staff (Martine McCutcheon). The film was another box-office success for the filmmakers and stars a host of British talent and celebrities. 'Wimbledon' (2004) concerns a washed-up tennis player who scores a wildcard entry to the Wimbledon championship and finds his game reinvigorated after he meets one of the top American female stars. Richard Loncraine directs Paul Bettany as Peter Colt, a once-great British player sliding further down the world ranking every year. Once ranked 11th in the world, he is now placed at 113th and it seems as if his career has come to an inglorious end. Wimbledon seems like Peter's last chance, although when he accidentally stumbles into the hotel room of a rising star in the women's game, he finds his luck beginning to change.

AMAZON REVIEW
Love Actually

With no fewer than eight couples vying for our attention, Love Actually is like the London Marathon of romantic comedies, and everybody wins. Having mastered the genre as the writer of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones's Diary, it appears that first-time director Richard Curtis is just like his screenplays: he just wants to be loved, and he'll go to absurdly appealing lengths to win our affection. With Love Actually, Curtis orchestrates a minor miracle of romantic choreography, guiding a brilliant cast of stars and newcomers as they careen toward love and holiday cheer in London, among them the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) who's smitten with his caterer (Martine McCutcheon); a widower (Liam Neeson) whose young son nurses the ultimate schoolboy crush; a writer (Colin Firth) who falls for his Portuguese housekeeper; a devoted wife and mother (Emma Thompson) coping with her potentially unfaithful husband (Alan Rickman); and a lovelorn American (Laura Linney) who's desperately attracted to a colleague. There's more--too much more--as Curtis wraps his Christmas gift with enough happy endings to sweeten a dozen other movies. That he pulls it off so entertainingly is undeniably impressive; that he does it so shamelessly suggests that his writing fares better with other, less ingratiating directors. --Jeff Shannon

Wimbledon

Professional tennis makes an unlikely but surprisingly effective backdrop for a lively romantic comedy in Wimbledon. Peter Cort (Paul Bettany, Master and Commander), once ranked 11th in the world, has slipped to 119th and is heading into his last Wimbledon tournament when he runs into Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst, The Virgin Suicides, Spider-Man), a rising star. The two strike up a whirlwind romance that gives his game new life--but she insists it's going to be nothing but a passing fling. Their affair heats up and Cort finds himself steadily rising through the competition while Lizzie stumbles. Of course, the ending is never really in doubt--but Bettany is a unique cinematic presence, pale and lithe, doubtful of life but also hungry for it. Thanks to him and the ever-engaging Dunst, Wimbledon is funnier, more suspenseful, and more touching that anyone might expect, turning a conventional flick into a genuine charmer. --Bret Fetzer