This is a film all about love, although it takes a whole new cynical approach to love, or the lack of it. It criticises modern relationships and explores the aspects that ruin love such as jealousy and betrayal. Also unusually for a love story, the characters are arrogant and difficult to sympathise with, which is a challenge to the audience as it is difficult to take sides with any of them. It certainly doesn't offer the similarity of a usual love story; I will applaud anyone who comes close to guessing the ending.

The script is extremely witty and honest: it will have you watching the characters as you would a tennis match. Most lines are spat out without much passion; they really hit you in the face. "I don"t love you anymore. Goodbye.' They are mostly very short and snappy, and anything but poetic.

The plot is about four strangers whose lives intertwine together: Alice, a stripper (Natalie Portman), Dan, an obituaries writer (Jude Law), Anna, a photographer (Julia Roberts) and Larry, a doctor (Clive Owen). These four strangers form unhealthy and unbalanced relationships with one another, involving betrayal, cruelty and obsession. Although it is a very dark story, the tension is often broken down with laugh-out-loud humour, so the audience doesn't feel suffocated.

Law's and Robert's characters are catalysts to the story although they are anything but charming. Owen's and Portman's outstandingly chilling performances outshine that of Law's and Robert's.

At the scene of the two major break-ups, Owen's character cruelly and bluntly asks Robert's about her sexual encounters with Law. "Did you come?" it is deeply unsettling and uncomfortable to watch. In contrast, when the scene jumps to Portman and Law's break up, we feel more at ease with this much more emotional encounter, and we feel sympathy for Portman's character. These scenes are certainly emotionally challenging to watch- it is difficult to take it all in the first time you watch it; you might not know how to feel about it.

The script, however, can be to articulate for the characters to be believable and sincere. Despite that, it cleverly highlights the differences in the personality of the characters which is very interesting to watch. For example, Portman says she doesn't eat fish because "Fish piss in the sea", in contrast, Roberts' character finds fish "therapeutic". Spotting these differences should be rewarding for the viewer.

Another unusual aspect that makes this film interesting is that there is not a single sex scene in the entire film. Sex is talked about in a very cruel and blunt way that makes the viewer cringe ('you know she likes a guilty fuck') without the use of any physical contact, except kissing and subtle touches. This focuses on the moral aspects of sex and at times, the consequences of lust, although it does not enforce a morality on the viewer.

The narrative also differs from usual romantic films- out leaves out the periods of the smooth sailing relationships and focuses instead on the beginnings and ends of them. This emphasises the point that the film makes- love can be short, blunt and cruel.

Although some people argue it is more admirable than enjoyable, it is a contemporary masterpiece that challenges the audience's experiences from a romantic film as well as challenging them to think about the real definition of love. All in all, it has amazing script, beautiful cinematography, brilliant acting and an unforgettable soundtrack. Definitely worth seeing, although maybe not ideal for a first date.

My boyfriend has a “thing” for Cameron Diaz (he loves her nose, which I heard she was going to have fixed,) so we took in “The Holiday.” Very Christmasy without elves or Kronks or similar film emblems for the season, the film’s premise is intriguing. After parallel romantic disappointments, Kate Winslet (always beautiful and vulnerable and an actress of grand and versatile talent and Cameron Diaz (I get what my boyfriend sees in her, spunk, great comedic instincts and offbeat beauty) switch houses, cars, “everything”but thankfully (!) not identities. (That would have made it comic book silly and that just doesn’t work in a romantic comedy.

Amanda (Cameron Diaz) produces movie film trailers; Iris (Kate Winslet) covers weddings for a London newspaper. Overnight, they arrive at each other’s homes and the frothy fun begins. I wanted to love this movie, but I didn’t; I’m sorry…especially since I am the movie’s target demographic. Somehow, for me, it missed the mark, the L.A. to England vacation exchange is a fine hook, but while there is character growth and change, and the characters are well-drawn, it falls down and feels like unfizzy Diet Coke. It tries hard enough, and there are some great laughs and somewhat poignant moments, it comes off as a little less than comforting or like the warm cocoa of a movie one would expect from the trailers.

I don’t like to read reviews in which the reader is told too many specifics about the plot, figuring: how could it be possible to know every plot detail as it is about to be revealed; if you’re the type that wants advance notice, there are entire “spoiler” sites that will give you every detail about a film. Sue me, but I just don’t get that at all.

It’s the film equivalent of “chick lit,” which means it may be box office poison for men of any age, even though there are enough men to go around and more than the occasional moment with soundtrack producer Miles (Jack Black) who works for Cameron Diaz’s ex (Ed Burns) who appears in a single scene; Burns’s character, of course, is the reason Amanda seeks exile from L.A. but then she meets Iris’s brother Graham (Jude Law) in Surrey (which is Iris’s ‘hood)… and the result is a movie that is a bit sweet, very small and ultimately, sort of forgettable.

Everyone is loving this movie and I am usually the type to adore even a lousy made-for-tv romantic comedy, but it is so light, it is positively feathery; Kate Winslet was underutilized and Jack Black watered down his personality and lost a few pounds to be a believable love interest. Cameron Diaz and Jude Law, who, by sheer virtue of the script, had more screen time and a more developed story arc, were both “lovely” (as they say across the pond). Cameron Diaz is unafraid to laugh at herself, and she turns in a dynamic performance, and she is very well-developed as a very tightly wound control freak. I’m not sure Jude Law was ever more endearing, warm, vulnerable or believable as a good guy on film. Since Iris is such a loving character, her brother is equally kind and generous. And interestingly, I loved him in “Alfie” but that character is so intrinsically lonely and tragic in an everyman way, it was a great distraction to be allowed to really like him as an actor and a character in this film.

Oddly enough, in a romantic comedy, the very best relationship seemed to be Kate Winslet’s thoroughly platonic friendship with a legendary screenwriter, subtly played by Eli Wallach, who surrenders his walker and fragility thanks to Winslet’s nurturing. Watching their trust in each other grow, how they cross over into each other’s lives and become an unlikely but genuinely “believable” pair is heartfelt. I would have loved the movie to mean more, but I’ll give it more credit than it actually deserves. It is a testament to finding what you need in giving and in being open to everything life – and love…in its endlessly myriad forms…can offer.