Thursday’s “Red Nose Day Special” on NBC finally brought American viewers the long-awaited “Love Actua🦩lly” reunion — and it seems many of the beloved holiday movie’s characters haven’t changed a bit since 2003.
Titled “Red Nose Day Actually,” the 10-minute film (watch the extended cut on Facebook) opened with Juliet (Keira Knightley) and Peter’s (Chiwetel Ejiofor) couch-snuggling interrupted by the doorbell, which reveals Mark (Andrew Lincoln) and his famous placards. Happily, he’s now married to one of the hot models he wishfully placed on there last time around. Hugh Grant’s David is still the Prime Minis🅠ter and still dancing down the stairs at 10 Downing Street (this time to Drake’s “Hotline Bling”) — though he shows his age when he throws out his back, earning a scolding from wife Natalie (Martine McCutcheon).
Rufus (Rowan Atkinson) is continuing his painstakingly slow gift-wrapping as a Walgreens cashier and Jamie (Colin Firth) is still a poor driver. Jamie’s wife, Aurella’s (Lúcia Moniz) English is much improved, and they’ve got a brood of kids (with another on the way). Sarah (Laura Linney) finally has a husband on the other end of hꦿer incessant cellphone calls — and it’s McDreamy himself, Patrick Dempsey.
The biggest shock here is♏ seeing young Sam (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) all grown up. He returns home to London to tell his dad, Daniel (Liam Neeson) that he reunited with his grade-school 🌌crush, Joanna (Olivia Olson) in New York and that they’re getting married.
Like the original movie, the reunion sequel lays on the sap with a closing press conference speech by the🅰 Prime Minister on the endurance of love. However, he also weighs in on the truly important question — “What is the best Christmas film ever made?”— finally settling a debate that has raged since “Love Actually” was first released (“Everyone knows it’s ‘Elf’ ”). Smart man.