# Love actually - is Emma Thompson's character overreacting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146 "2011-01-02T17:23:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/61 "2011-01-10T20:46:45Z")
I had the impression Colin was carrying the tray around in an effort to connect with young ladies, not because he was being paid to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/62 "2011-01-10T21:27:05Z")
I think he was working there. Didn’t he slump down next to _another_ waiter and talk about going to the USA? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/63 "2011-01-10T21:36:01Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I think he was working there. Didn’t he slump down next to _another_ waiter and talk about going to the USA? His day job was delivering food, and he did to the office where Linney and Rickman worked. He was doing the job at the party poorly because he’s a crap worker. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/64 "2011-01-10T21:51:32Z")
First, my tuppence on the OP: Alan Rickman did not bang the secretary, although he would’ve, probably, if he hadn’t gotten busted. He and Emma were able to resolve their differences, eventually. And Emma did not overreact. My favorite subplot is Aurelia & Colin Firth. I just love the subtitled exchanges, where they’re telling each other more than they would admit if they could actually communicate; and then the finale, with each of them making translation mistakes, faithfully rendered in the subtitles. And the fat sister is a riot. The only flaw in this otherwise wonderful film is the Sam (the kid drummer) subplot. First, his character is too young. If they’d made him 2 or 3 years older, it would have rung much more true. And second…WTF with the pageant? We first see an incredibly (and realistically) amateurish rendition of “Catch a Falling Star” with bad vocals and homemade costumes, followed by the Vegas-ready production of “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/65 "2011-01-10T23:56:18Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > …WTF with the pageant? We first see an incredibly (and realistically) amateurish rendition of “Catch a Falling Star” with bad vocals and homemade costumes, followed by the Vegas-ready production of “All I Want For Christmas Is You”. Another trivia point, the young singer was so very good, they had to ‘dirty’ the recording to make her sound more of an amateur singer! I find the difference between the two numbers quite believable, schools will often have a number where they showcase whatever real talent they have and another where all the parents can spot their kid on stage, no matter how tone deaf. As someone mentioned earlier, Sam learning the drums and getting picked for the big number within a few weeks? Less likely. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/66 "2011-01-11T00:28:14Z")
None of the time lines made sense. How did Colin Firth get divorced so quickly? Four weeks between walking in on his with boffing his brother and he is already proposing to someone else? I actually think it makes more sense for a year to pass between the wedding and funeral and the climatic Christmas wrap up. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/67 "2011-01-11T01:12:02Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > The only flaw in this otherwise wonderful film is the Sam (the kid drummer) subplot. First, his character is too young. If they’d made him 2 or 3 years older, it would have rung much more true. The [actor](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1032473/) who played Sam is 2 years and 5 days older than the [actress](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1470322/) who played Joanna. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/68 "2011-01-11T01:44:44Z")
I didn’t think that Colin Firth was married. I assumed they were living together and split up. And he says he knows that it’s crazy in the proposal. I really love the “You should stop eating those. You’re getting chubbier by the day./ I have a wonderful constitution. I can eat anything and not gain weight!” exchange. Plus, “What kind of idiot doesn’t make copies!” ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/69 "2011-01-11T02:33:13Z")
Talking about Colin delivering the sandwiches reminded me of a question I’ve always meant to ask…how does that work, exactly? That’s two London-based movies I’ve seen now with a person who goes around an office delivering sandwiches, apples, etc., out of a big basket. (For the curious, the other was Sliding Doors with Gwenyth Paltrow.) Anyway, they don’t show anyone asking for something specific, or paying. Is everything ordered ahead of time and we’re just supposed to assume the delivery guy has been delivering there so long he knows where everyone sits? Does the company pay for everyone? Just curious. 🙂 And to be more movie-specific, I really like the outtake involving Emma Thompson and her son. She’s been called into the principal’s office because her son is in trouble. Turns out he wrote an essay about how much fun it would be if we could see everyone’s farts. The way she reacts is great…she pretends to be very serious about it in front of the school VIPs, asks to speak to her son alone, but then when she’s alone with him she’s like, “That was a hilarious essay, you’re very clever, and don’t you dare listen to those idiots!” ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/70 "2011-01-11T02:43:44Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I love this movie, and have always presumed that there was, indeed, hanky panky going on. By giving in to a necklace, he was accepting an affair; there was nothing to indicate there WASN’T an affair going on. Yeah I think there’s no question that they were flirting with each other and having an emotional affair, and the necklace was a keystone towards a full on affair. I think that the wife caught him though, before the affair had a chance to actually get to the sexual stage. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/71 "2011-01-11T16:33:16Z")
> [@PeskiPiksi](#): > > Talking about Colin delivering the sandwiches reminded me of a question I’ve always meant to ask…how does that work, exactly? That’s two London-based movies I’ve seen now with a person who goes around an office delivering sandwiches, apples, etc., out of a big basket. (For the curious, the other was Sliding Doors with Gwenyth Paltrow.) Anyway, they don’t show anyone asking for something specific, or paying. Is everything ordered ahead of time and we’re just supposed to assume the delivery guy has been delivering there so long he knows where everyone sits? Does the company pay for everyone? > > Just curious. 🙂 Aah, the sandwich man. I haven’t had one of those for years. He’s basically a mobile sandwich shop, who visits usually smaller offices, who don’t have a canteen or who aren’t in the middle of London with multiple lunch options available. He has a varied selection of sandwiches, crisps, chocolate, sometimes soup, that you choose from. Usually you just pay him there and then, but sometimes you might pay at the end of the week, or your company might have a deal. Sometimes you might order from him in advance. I get the impression he’s going the way of the milkman and is a dying breed. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/72 "2011-01-11T18:20:42Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Well, he was carrying a tray of food, which he offered to (the woman he didn’t know was) the caterer, before taking a piece himself and insulting the food. Is it common for guests at weddings to carry around trays of food? It’s common for servers not to meet the actual caterer when they work. I’ve never actually seen a server at a wedding - you go and get the food yourself from the buffet, or it’s all sit-down food. I have seen guests with trays of food (though more likely paper plates) that they’ve filled themselves. The bloke he slumped next to wasn’t a waiter - unless he was a waiter and a film-director on a film which had a weeks-long shoot and could afford stand-ins for famous actors. Perhaps he was working there, but he also happened to be at the church, or perhaps he was both their friend _and_ a waiter at their wedding, which isn’t terribly likely, but then neither’s a school concert on Christmas Day. Either way, he’s connected to the wedding party too, which was the reason I brought it up. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/73 "2011-01-11T18:46:24Z")
And it \*would \*be entirely in character for Colin the wedding guest to grab a tray from a hired server and take it around to chat up chicks with. So I guess “I dunno” is the answer there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/74 "2011-01-11T19:11:22Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > I get the impression he’s going the way of the milkman and is a dying breed. They may have slacked off recently, but when I worked in a big office building in Victoria in 2007, we had one come round every day and do good trade. They cater for workaholics like me who eat at their desk despite a cornucopia of external catering options: this was in a place where on the ground floor alone we had a Wagamama, M&S Food, EAT., a tapas place, All Bar One, and various other places, not counting dozens of other food outlets within a 5 minute walk. That said, I guess it didn’t hurt business that the vendor was a stunningly beautiful Polish girl with a winning smile. I’ve never seen so many well-fed guys looking so apparently famished. ---
**Author:** ![PeskiPiksi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/75 "2011-01-11T19:38:06Z")
Thanks for the responses on the basket guy! Because I have nothing better to do today (or perhaps because I’m the world’s worst (best?) procrastinator, I just popped in my copy of the movie in to watch the wedding/reception scene again. I didn’t see Colin anywhere in the church. The guy who plays the guitar kind of looks like him, but it isn’t him. I think he was working the wedding, since we know he works in food service (basket deliveries, again), but I have no idea why his friend the movie-guy was back in the kitchen. He was just sitting there, flicking through a magazine. Dunno. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/76 "2011-01-11T19:51:37Z")
OK, I went and checked again too, and wow, that’s not Colin playing the guitar in the church after all, you’re right! He just looks a lot like him - poor bastard. And yeah, I think he possibly was working at the wedding rather than being a guest. So, anyway, like I said, that means he is connected to that couple and Andrew Lincoln (and by extension to the others who were at the wedding) too. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/77 "2011-01-11T23:27:01Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > None of the time lines made sense. Pfft. You lot will be nitpicking the timelines in _Othello_ next. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/78 "2011-01-11T23:36:52Z")
To the OP: Karen’s (Emma Thompson’s) reaction seemed to me reasonable, believable, and (how does one say)… culturally appropriate. From memory, there’s an exchange earlier between her and husband Harry (Rickman) about him introducing her to the music of _Joni Mitchell_ who had (paraphrasing) “taught your cold English wife to love” (love? feel?). Anyway, her “stiff upper-lip” / “show must go on” exterior presentation seemed to fit well with someone who wasn’t very comfortable with big shows of emotion. As to the affair… mmm… I think not, but that it would have very probably gone there had the necklace not been found and the implications exposed. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/79 "2011-01-12T14:20:45Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > To the OP: > > Karen’s (Emma Thompson’s) reaction seemed to me reasonable, believable, and (how does one say)… culturally appropriate. From memory, there’s an exchange earlier between her and husband Harry (Rickman) about him introducing her to the music of _Joni Mitchell_ who had (paraphrasing) “taught your cold English wife to love” (love? feel?). Anyway, her “stiff upper-lip” / “show must go on” exterior presentation seemed to fit well with someone who wasn’t very comfortable with big shows of emotion. I think you’re right – it speaks of a certain middle/upper class stiff-upper-lippism which is alive and well in my ‘terribly-english-of-the-old-school-variety’ mother. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146/80 "2011-01-12T14:22:59Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I’ve never actually seen a server at a wedding - you go and get the food yourself from the buffet, or it’s all sit-down food. I have seen guests with trays of food (though more likely paper plates) that they’ve filled themselves. Ha, you need to go to a better class of wedding, which equals more standing around and less food, which comes in the form of canapés handed around by servers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/love-actually-is-emma-thompsons-character-overreacting/566146.md?page=5)