History YMMV / LoveActually

* WTHCastingAgency: Keira Knightley (Juliet) during filming? Barely turned 18. Andrew Lincoln (Mark)? 29.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The film is actually more popular as a Christmas tradition in America than its native Britain.

** As Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" is known for being a ''very'' divisive track, a lot of people choose to associate it with this movie - as Olivia Olsen's version is much preferred.

* BrokenBase: The Colin subplot of him going to America hoping to score with the girls there. Half the base finds it rather insulting towards American women and a bit too parodic in tone compared to the movie's mostly grounded nature. Others find it funny, especially since there are ''other'' American women in the film like Sarah and Joanna, who are portrayed differently, and with significantly more screen time.

** Colin doesn't endear himself to American female audiences for naturally assuming that American girls are easy and will sleep with whatever English guy tries to seduce them, regardless of any other qualities.
* SignatureScene:
** People hugging in the airport.
** The Prime Minister [[RiskyBusinessDance dancing on the Pointer Sisters at 10 Downing Street]].
** Mark's cue cards.
** Joanna's performance at the concert.
** Sam's run through the airport at the climax.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Creator/EmmaThompson plays Creator/LiamNeeson's friend, who comforts him over the death. She would do the same in real life after Natasha Richardson's passing.

* {{Fanon}}: It's common for fans to assume Jamie and his brother are half-siblings, with different dads, as his brother does not appear in a later scene with Jamie's family and they don't look at all alike.
** Except if you look close enough during the scene with Jamie's family his brother can be seen in the background.

* WTHCastingAgency:
** Creator/BillyBobThornton as the U.S. President. Even weirder, it ''works''.
** It seems odd that they cast Creator/KeiraKnightley as Juliet, considering she was only eighteen and playing a woman who gets courted by two men several years older than she. While she didn't look that young, it seems like a strange casting choice.

** John and Judy manage to pull this on each other, bonding right away, even though they're in the rather uncomfortable position of being body doubles for a sex scene. There's also when Judy says "All I want for Christmas is you" to John, who responds with his own leap of joy.

** Sienna Guillory has a small part as Jamie's wife, who cheats on him with his brother. She would later be best known as Jill Valentine in the ''Film/ResidentEvilFilmSeries''.

** Carol Anne had some fame as Kim Bauer on ''Series/TwentyFour'', but she would soon become a 2000s sex symbol with ''Film/TheGirlNextDoor''.

** It's fair to say that Creator/HughGrant as a sexy Prime Minister dancing at 10 Downing Street will pop in the mind of many people whenever they hear Music/ThePointerSisters' "Jump (for My Love)".

** Olivia Olson, who plays Sam's love interest Joanna, would later be best known as Marceline the Vampire Queen from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' and Vanessa Doofenshmirtz from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''.

** Sam's crush on Joanna is presented as nothing but adorable, but the fact he states his reason for being in love with her as " she's the most popular girl in school", can come across as rather superficial. At least Joanna does appear genuinely sweet when Sam does interact with her towards the ending.

* BrokenAesop: The beginning montage of the movie, along with Hugh Grant's narration, talks about all the different kinds of love there is; familial love being as prominent as romantic love. In the film proper, however, while friends and family members interact in the background or as side-plots, the main relationships focused on are all romantic and/or sexual, and the one familial relationship that gets a main focus is Sarah with her mentally challenged brother, which only serves as a negative aspect of her life that ultimately ruins her chance for a relationship with Karl. The film BookEnds with another montage of friends and family hugging as well as couples, which at that point can make viewers who had expected familial love to be just as much of a focus to feel a tad snubbed.

** Sam's crush on Joanna is presented as nothing but adorable, but the fact he states his reason for being in love with her as " she's the most popular girl in school", can come across as rather superficial. At least Joanna does appear genuinely sweet when Sam finally interacts with her towards the ending.

* BrokenBase: The Colin subplot of him going to America hoping to score with the girls there. Half the base finds it rather insulting towards American women and a bit too parodic in tone compared to the movie's mostly grounded nature. Others find it funny, especially since there are ''other'' American females in the film like Sarah and Joanna, who are portrayed differently, and with significantly more screen time.

** Sam is now very recognisable as [[Series/GameOfThrones Jojen Reed]]. Or else [[Film/TheMazeRunner Newt]]...Oh and [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb Ferb too]].

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The rather random scene where David decides to do a dance around 10 Downing Street to "Jump" by The Pointer Sisters. It seems a little out of character for him, and Creator/HughGrant [[CreatorBacklash dislikes it]] for this reason. It also adds nothing to the overall narrative.
** There is a small callback to this scene with the instrumentals to "Jump" playing again when David finally goes after Natalie - we can guess the song is meant to represent David following his heart instead of his duty.
* BrokenBase: The Colin subplot of him going to America hoping to score with the girls there. Half the base finds it rather insulting towards American women and a bit too parodic in tone compared to the movie's mostly grounded nature. Others find it funny.

*** Many confessions have been made, both in fiction and reality, ''allegedly'' "without hope or agenda" and yet absolutely hoping that it will work. It's not unheard of for it to be successful, either.

** The scene in which Billy Mack appears on television with Creator/AntAndDec and comes out with the immortal line for the kids "Here's an important message from your Uncle Bill. Don't buy drugs. Become a pop star, and they give you them for free." Ant stands next to Billy, looking visibly shocked. Ant would later spend time in 2018 in rehab for drug and alcohol problems. (Albeit prescription ones.)

** Despite being a major motivation for Sam, Joanna doesn't physically appear until the concert. But damn if Olivia Olsen's ''awesome'' rendition of "All I Want For Christmas" doesn't make her one of the most memorable parts of the film.

** Colin doesn't endear himself to American female audiences for naturally assuming that American girls are easy and will sleep with whatever English guy tries to seduce them, regardless of any other qualities. And neither does the movie, for [[UnfortunateImplications proving him right]].

** Mark's card message includes a picture of a mummified corpse. Creator/AndrewLincoln later became the lead star of ''Series/TheWalkingDead''. Also, try watching the aforementioned TV series's first two seasons while remembering how Mark loves his best friend's wife.

** Creator/AndrewLincoln later became even more famous for his starring role in ''Series/TheWalkingDead''.

** Billy's storyline mirroring Music/RageAgainstTheMachine's surprise number one six years later.

* UnfortunateImplications: [[http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/12/-em-love-actually-em-is-the-least-romantic-film-of-all-time/282091/ This article]] argues that the film has three core underlying messages about love, each decidedly suspect:
-->As for the rest of the film — which is to say, the bulk of the film — I think it offers up at least three disturbing lessons about love. First, that love is overwhelmingly a product of physical attraction and requires virtually no verbal communication or intellectual/emotional affinity of any kind. Second, that the principal barrier to consummating a relationship is mustering the nerve to say "I love you" — preferably with some grand gesture — and that once you manage that, you're basically on the fast track to nuptial bliss. And third, that any ''actual'' obstacle to romantic fulfillment, however surmountable, is not worth the effort it would require to overcome.

** Olivia Olson's performance of "All I Want For Christmas Is You". And she could actually sing it even better, except that Richard Curtis worried that people would assume she was dubbed so he instructed her to insert breath pauses she didn't really need.

** Sam is now very recognisable as [[Series/GameOfThrones Jojen Reed]]. Or else [[Film/TheMazeRunner Newt]].

** Creator/KeiraKnightley was known only as "that girl from ''Film/BendItLikeBeckham''" when this movie came out (or alternatively, as Creator/NataliePortman's InUniverse body double in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''). Shortly after, she went on to star in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''.