If “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Notting Hill” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral” were consumed and then regurgitated as one superhuman romantic comedy, it would probably look like “Love Actually.” Cheeky — literally — and surprisingly sappy, “Love Actually” provides ample laughs that make it worth seeing. But lacking the subtlety of its predecessors, the film sometimes doesn’t know when to stop giving you so much holiday ham.

“Love Actually” has a cast of characters to rival any other British comedy. With favorites like Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, how can you go wrong? But with so many storylines, “Love Actually” would have packed a bigger punch if unnecessary characters were dropped to focus on smaller, but stronger, storylines.

Try to keep up: Grant plays a freshly appointed Prime Minister who fancies his new secretary. His sister Karen (Emma Thompson) is married to Harry (Alan Rickman), who is just beginning to contemplate initiating an affair with his coworker. In the same office is Sarah (Laura Linney), who also has her own interoffice crush. But her woes can’t compete with her friend Mark (Andrew Lincoln) whose best friend just married Juliet (Keira Knightley).

Lost yet?

It doesn’t end there. The list goes on to include Liam Neeson, Rowan Atkinson, Billy Bob Thornton as a sleazy U.S. president (