Audiences can start celebrating a little early as the holiday-themed romantic comedy “Love Actually” weaves its spell over moviegoers. Writer/director Richard Curtis’ romantic comedy can honestly, truthfully, and without hesitation be labeled ‘the romantic comedy of the year.’ In a year practically devoid of romantic comedies, that’s not exactly a tough title to claim. However, “Love Actually” is utterly charming, irresistible, and all those other accolades usually launched at a cute, fluffy, romantic comedy, so it deserves the label - and not just by default.

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On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea’s direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny. Written by berkeley