Love Actually is the 81st episode in Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Gilli Nissim and Andy Signore. It was narrated by Jon Bailey as Epic Voice Guy. It parodies the 2003 romantic comedy film Love Actually. It was published on November 25, 2014, to coincide with the Christmas holiday period. It is 4 minutes and 13 seconds long. It has been viewed over 5.3 million times.
Watch Honest Trailers - Love Actually on YouTube
"Experience what boils down to a supercut of every rom-com cliche in the book, like the last-minute airport dash, awkward meet-cutes, making out behind the curtain and getting discovered, singing in public, adorable children, over-the-top gestures, and Hugh F*cking Grant." ~ Honest Trailers - Love Actually
Script[]
From the man responsible for every movie your girlfriend tried to drag you to (Richard Curtis) comes the film responsible for every bad movie about a dozen famous people falling in love on a popular holiday: Love Actually.
This holiday season, prepare for the ultimate romantic comedy that's not very romantic, or funny, or relevant to the holiday season. But don't worry; sit through it, and you still might get laid.
Follow along on this Pulp Fiction for girls, stuffed with eight different plotlines that are creepy and depressing when you actually stop to think about them, like a man (Daniel) getting over the death of his wife by helping his kid (Sam) seduce a girl with the same name as his dead mom (Joanna); a woman (Sarah) who ends up alone with her unstable brother (Michael) instead of her hot, available co-worker (Karl); this guy (Mark), who's trying to bang his best friend's wife (Juliet) an-- wait, is that Rick? (Sarah: Do you think Karl knows?/Rick Grimes: CAAAAARL!! Carl?!) A man (Harry) who will throw away his loving wife (Karen) and children to buy a necklace for this walking vagina (Mia); a powerful older man (David) who fires his subordinate (Natalie) for being distractingly hot; a powerful older man (Jamie) whose wife cheats on him, so he seduces his young, hot subordinate who doesn't even speak English (Aurelia); and these two uncomfortable stand-ins (John and Judy) on the highest-budget porno of all time.
Experience what boils down to a supercut of every rom-com cliche in the book, like the last-minute airport dash, awkward meet-cutes, making out behind the curtain and getting discovered, singing in public, adorable children, over-the-top gestures, and Hugh F*cking Grant.
So this Christmas, catch one of the most subversive chick flicks of all time that's aimed at a female audience, but tells them the ideal woman brings you food, isn't fat, and shows you her boobs. Thanks, bro.
Starring All These People You Liked Better in Other Things: Rick...for real, I'm telling you, that's totally Rick (Andrew Lincoln as Mark); Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit (Martin Freeman as John); Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson as Daniel); Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman as Harry); Davy Jones (Bill Nighy as Billy Mack); Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert as Carol-Anne); Professor Trelawney (Emma Thompson as Karen); Liz Shaw from Doctor Who (Caroline John as Sam's Grandmother); Nadia from American Pie (Shannon Elizabeth as Harriet); Betty Draper (January Jones as Jeannie); Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro as Karl); Carmen from Starship Troopers (Denise Richards as Carla); Bad Santa (Billy Bob Thornton as the President of the United States); Oh, Of Course Mr. Bean's In It (Rowan Atkinson as Rufus); Jojen Reed (Thomas Sangster as Sam); Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean (Keira Knightley as Juliet); and The Voice of Marceline on Adventure Time (Olivia Olson as Joanna). Wow, all that's missing is someone from Breaking Bad. Oh, sh*t, it's The Gray Matter Guy from Breaking Bad (Adam Godley as Mr. Trench)! Bingo! I have Bingo!
Honest title for Love Actually - S**t Actually. Titles designed by Robert Holtby.
S**t Actually
Billy Mack: This is sh*t, isn't it?
Joe: Yep, solid gold sh*t, maestro.
Exactly.
Trivia[]
- Screen Junkies has produced Honest Trailers for a few other romantic films including Fifty Shades of Grey (and its two sequels), The Fault in Our Stars, The Notebook, Beauty and the Beast, Pearl Harbor and Titanic. For more see list of Honest Trailers.
- Screen Junkies have also produced Honest Trailers for several other holiday movies including Elf, Home Alone, The Santa Clause, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Die Hard.
- An Honest Trailer Commentary for this episode was recorded and was available on the Screen Junkies Plus until the website/app was discontinued. Screen Junkies don't currently have any way of releasing the video.
Reception[]
Honest Trailers - Love Actually has an 98.0% approval rating from YouTube viewers. Junkee faulted the Honest Trailer for its "sexist overtones" but also said that it "makes some stellar points about how creepy the sub-plots are." CinemaBlend said the Honest Trailer was "hilarious" and also found the Honest Trailer notable for drawing attention to how "really, really creepy and depressing" the plot points are. Time highlighted the Honest Trailer for pointing out "how creepy the film’s many divergent plot lines are, how the whole movie is just riddled with tired cliches." Similarly, Cosmopolitan noted that the Honest Trailer "points out all the excessive clichés featured in the Christmas film."
EW noted that "the trailer skewers everything suspect about the movie, from Andrew Lincoln’s character macking on his best friend’s girl, to that inexplicably high-budget porno scene to the mere presence of Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister of England." EW also said "the Honest Trailer is a little light on the burns" and questioned if the joke "Pulp Fiction for girls" was on point. Digital Spy wrote that "the team at Honest Trailers boiled down the film's plot points in hilarious – but depressingly honest – style. But even after we've been reminded of all the infidelity, the grief and even the consistent fat-shaming, we still can't stop loving this Christmas staple."
Production credits[]
Video thumbnail for Honest Trailers - Love Actually
Voiceover Narration by Jon Bailey
Title design by Robert Holtby
Series Created & Directed by Andy Signore & Brett Weiner
Written by Spencer Gilbert, Dan Murrell, Gilli Nissim and Andy Signore
Edited by Dan Murrell & Jason Inman
External links []
- The Honest Trailer for Love Actually is making us question everything - Cosmopolitan article
- Love Actually is totally ruined by this BRUTAL ‘honest’ trailer (WATCH) - Express article
- This Honest Trailer for Love Actually Is Spot On (but We Still Love the Movie Anyway) - Glamour article
- This Honest Trailer for Love Actually Points Out How Creepy the Film's Plot Actually Is - Time article
- This 'honest' Love Actually trailer will change the way you see the film forever - Digital Spy article
- Love Actually's "Honest" Trailer Will Reminds You How Amazing the Cast Is—and the Movie Isn't! - E! Online article
- Honest trailer for 'Love Actually' shows how it's like 'Pulp Fiction' - RadioTimes article
- Honest Trailers Takes On ‘Love Actually’, The Most Inexplicably Beloved Holiday Movie Of All Time - Uproxx article
- Love Actually Just Got Lovingly Torn Down By This Hilarious Honest Trailer - CinemaBlend article
- Here’s Everything The Internet Has Ever Written About Why ‘Love Actually’ Is A Terrible Film - Junkee article