Love Actually fan points out 'plot hole' in Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson gift-exchange scene sparking huge debate

A Love Actually fan has highlighted an apparent plot hole in the Christmas movie classic, sparking a debate online.

With less than a week to go before December 25, thousands of people across the UK will be watching the festive flick, including Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant and Liam Neeson, to get in the holiday spirit.

But one fan, Twitter user @heyspacebones, has pointed out what she suggested was an oversight in the film - during a scene in which Harry, played by the late Alan Rickman, gives his wife Karen, played by Emma Thomspon, a Joni Mitchell CD for Christmas.

The viewer claimed that, as a self-professed superfan of Joni Mitchell for at least 20 years, Thompson's character would almost certainly already own the album Both Sides Now.

She wrote: “The worst part of Love Actually is when he gives Emma Thompson who has clearly been a fan of Joni Mitchell for at least 20 years Both Sides Now.

“As if she would not already own that record,” she added in a viral tweet has gained more than 29,00 likes and 2,900 retweets since it was posted on Monday.

The well-known gift exchange scene is followed by Karen going upstairs and bursting into tears after she realised her husband had bought the necklace she was expecting for his mistress.

But while some supported the claim it was a plot hole, other Twitter users jumped to the defence of Love Actually, suggesting Karen may not have had that specific album because it includes orchestral versions of the artist’s greatest hits.

“I mean, I hate that film as much as anyone, but the album he gives her is one of the orchestral versions of her back catalogue that came out in 2000,” one person wrote.

Another said: “To be fair I am a huge fan of a particular singer, if an album has different bonus tracks, a different cover art then I have to have it.”