Bill's brill, actually...

Richard Curtis has completed his directorial debut film, Love Actually, and it has been trimmed back a tad since I saw a work-in-progress version.

I was glad, though, that he hasn't cut back on Bill (State Of Play) Nighy's outrageously funny performance as a former rock star who is making a comeback with a 'Christmas' version of Love Is All Around.

Watching it a second time, I see that he's actually the film's soul because he's the one you least expect to make a magnanimous gesture.

There are some lovely moments, particularly with Colin Firth, Emma Thompson and two school children played by Thomas Sangster and Olivia Olson.

The film's going to be a huge hit and is most enjoyable. Some perceptive person worked out that I didn't actually love the film. It was more a case of Like Actually.

That's probably because it's so shamelessly manipulative and, sure enough, it hooked me. But then as my colleague astutely put it: 'It does exactly what it says on the tin.'