It's All About Love (2003)

14% of critics liked it
(29 reviews)
31% of users liked it
(1,143 ratings)

An estranged couple are brought back together as they run for their lives in a future world where science as well as emotions have gone haywire in this sci-fi drama from director Thomas Vinterberg. In the year 2021, the world seems to have become a very strange place; an unexplained ailment is… More An estranged couple are brought back together as they run for their lives in a future world where science as well as emotions have gone haywire in this sci-fi drama from director Thomas Vinterberg. In the year 2021, the world seems to have become a very strange place; an unexplained ailment is causing children to drop dead on the streets of New York, ice storms and floods strike major cities without notice, summer is marked by periodic snowfalls, and a strange hole has appeared in the Ugandan sky that causes people to loose the grip of gravity and drift off into space. In the midst of all this, internationally known figure skater Elena (Claire Danes) is getting divorced from her husband John (Joaquin Phoenix) after an 18-month separation. John has arrived in New York City to have Elena sign the divorce papers, but after finally making his way through her entourage, he discovers her to be unhappy and out of sorts, and she asks him to stay. John soon learns that Elena and her staff have a secret -- David (Alun Armstrong), her manager, has had Elena cloned, and now there are three duplicates of her to stand in if she should be killed or injured. John's discovery puts both him and Elena in grave danger, and they are soon on the run from David and his underlings. Meanwhile, Marciello (Sean Penn) ponders the unstable state of the world as he flies from one place to another after a heroic dose of pills designed to combat the fear of flying. It's All About Love received its North American premier at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 45 min.
Directed By: Thomas Vinterberg
Written By: Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov
Genres: Drama, Romance, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Oct 29, 2004 Limited
On DVD: Sep 27, 2005
Studio: Focus Features

Critic Reviews

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
It's like Kubrick with a talent-ectomy.
Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger
Viewers who feel like they're not getting the point of the story shouldn't feel bad because the actors also appear befuddled.
Gene Seymour, Newsday
Doesn't add up to much.
Megan Lehmann, New York Post
There's something inherently frustrating about the illogical plot and the breezy vagueness of its message, which seems to be linking the global freezing of a near-future world with the coldness in people's hearts.
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
Surely, Vinterberg was high on some inert gas when he embarked on it.
Manohla Dargis, New York Times
The Danish director Thomas Vinterberg's tries and fails to spin a quasi-futuristic romance into a political allegory.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
A chilly romantic thriller that certainly doesn't make the point suggested by its title.
Edward Havens, FilmJerk.com
Quite simply, the film is a bore. A plodding, uninteresting, incoherent mess.
Jay Antani, Los Angeles Alternative
while watching it you might be hit with the urge to grab the Danish writer-director by the collar and shout 'No, it's all about story!'
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A stew of silliness that's so ridiculous it's almost entertaining. Almost.
, E! Online
It's too bad the plot's pretty preposterous and the moral-heavy mush is just too much to stomach.
Annlee Ellingson, Boxoffice Magazine
Thomas Vinterberg, one of the founders of Dogme school of filmmaking, has invented a fascinating futuristic world that is ultimately more interesting than the central plot.

Read all 12 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

In "It's All About Love," John(Joaquin Phoenix) is stopping over in New York on his way to Calgary to meet with his wife Elena(Claire Danes), a five time gold medal winning figure skater, so she can sign divorce papers. Instead, he is met by Arthur(Mark Strong) and… More
In "It's All About Love," John(Joaquin Phoenix) is stopping over in New York on his way to Calgary to meet with his wife Elena(Claire Danes), a five time gold medal winning figure skater, so she can sign divorce papers. Instead, he is met by Arthur(Mark Strong) and George(Harry Ditson) who tell him that she cannot make it due to a scheduled performance in the city, getting him to agree to spend the night in the bargain. Just don't mind the dead guy at the bottom of the escalator. Happens all the time. The following day on the way to the Metropolitan, John persuades Elena to take a detour with him to Williamsburg. Even then, they are still being followed... While still pretty much a bad movie, it is also almost impossible for me to hate something as warped as "It's All About Love." This might just be a prime example of something that sounded good when proposed but could not be made to work on the screen. The movie's central problem is its romance which is usually what grounds a movie like this but is in fact the heart of the insanity. While Danes and Phoenix look good together, it took me a while to realize their halting speech was a result of their futilely attempting Polish accents. And don't get me started on Sean Penn attempting an Italian accent.(If any of you know where I can get any of that fear of flying medicine, please get in touch with me.) By comparison, the largely British supporting cast fares well. Additionally, with the exception of an invention integral to the plot, the movie provides little insight into what the world may look like in 2021. In any case, I think Africa will have worse problems than people levitating. All I know for sure is the only places in New York City where someone will be able to smoke are Riker's Island and a barge in the East River. Come to think of it, everybody smoking is probably what's causing all of the hearts stopping.
Lesley N

Another wtf is going on
Nicolas K

Against what most critics said about this film, I found it profoundly poetic and visually fulfilling.
Daniel P

Another deleted Flixster review. <i>All About Love</i> is a pretentious but beautifully bizarre movie with equally beautifully bizarre lead performances. I need to see this again
Daisy M

To call this movie a science fiction,was an insult to science and fiction. The movie was set in the near future, 2021, except for the CGI double deck airplane at the beginning you could not trace anything of the future, everything looked exactly like the year it was filmed in. There… More
To call this movie a science fiction,was an insult to science and fiction. The movie was set in the near future, 2021, except for the CGI double deck airplane at the beginning you could not trace anything of the future, everything looked exactly like the year it was filmed in. There was lots of bad science fiction cliche, with no real explanation,that overcome so silly and stupid, like dead people laying everywhere, even in trash cans. They did some attempts for some changes, they distract from the real elements of the movie, but serve no purpose than to confuse like all fresh water on Earth freezes for exactly two minutes all over the planet. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The filmmakers would have been better off setting the movie in the present day, and stop the crazy attempts for future. In sum, the plot was pure nonsense. For you who have not yet watch this piece of garbage, please don't wast your time on this.