Although I’ve seen relatively few films featuring the British character actor Bill Nighy. I’ve enjoyed most of them, or at least him, quite a bit. The Bookshop (2017) my wife liked more than I, but we both loved him.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2010) was delightful. The sequel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015) was a lesser effort.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) was overstuffed with storyline. After seeing Notes on a Scandal (2006), my wife said she felt as though she needed a shower afterward, and I understood what she meant.
Love Actually
But my favorite Bill Nighy film is the first one of his I saw, Love Actually (2003). I could come up with descriptions, but why do that when Jaquandor has done it for me.
“I wouldn’t be so enchanted with Love Actually if the movie wasn’t so wickedly funny. There isn’t a scene with Billy Mack (Bill Nighy), the aging rocker, that doesn’t leave me grinning at the very least… I’d love to see a biopic of aged, battered old rocker Billy Mack, who late in the movie admits that his life, though lonely, has been a wonderful life.”
Jaquandor also speaks to the other attributes of the film. “Few movies seem as full of real people, to me, as Love Actually. That’s a testament, really, not just to the writing, but the entire production, because the movie by its nature has to rely on its actors and editors to make the whole thing really come to life.
“Since each story in the movie is basically told in miniature, each cast member is put in the position of having to knock each scene out of the park. Luckily for the movie, they accomplish this.”
He quotes the late Roger Ebert: “I once had ballpoints printed up with the message, No good movie is too long. No bad movie is short enough. ‘Love Actually’ is too long. But don’t let that stop you.” [Emphasis added.]
In fact, I haven’t seen the film in quite a while. I should remedy that.