Love Is All You Need (2013)

73% of critics liked it
(73 reviews)
49% of users liked it
(2,659 ratings)

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED is directed by Golden Globe (R) and Oscar (R) winning filmmaker Susanne Bier, written by Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen and starring Pierce Brosnan and Trine Dyrholm. Philip (Brosnan), an Englishman living in Denmark, is a lonely, middle-aged widower and estranged single father.… More LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED is directed by Golden Globe (R) and Oscar (R) winning filmmaker Susanne Bier, written by Bier and Anders Thomas Jensen and starring Pierce Brosnan and Trine Dyrholm. Philip (Brosnan), an Englishman living in Denmark, is a lonely, middle-aged widower and estranged single father. Ida (Dyrholm) is a Danish hairdresser, recuperating from a long bout of illness, who's just been left by her husband for a younger woman, Thilde. The fates of these two bruised souls are about to intertwine, as they embark for a trip to Italy to attend the wedding of Patrick and Astrid, Philip's son and Ida's daughter. With warmth, affection and confidence, Susanne Bier has shaken a cocktail of love, loss, absurdity, humor, and delicately drawn characters that will leave only the hardest heart untouched. It is a film about the simple yet profound pains and joys of moving on - and forward - with your life. (c) Sony Classics

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Directed By: Susanne Bier
Written By: Anders Thomas Jensen
Genres: Documentary, Drama, Romance, Comedy, Special Interest

In Theaters: May 3, 2013 Limited
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

Critic Reviews

Peter Keough, Boston Globe
Bier spices up the long-hackneyed generic formula with lush location cinematography, outstanding performances ... and subtitles, but otherwise the movie needs a lot more than love.
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Bier's first English-language film deals in the same dumbed-down wish fulfillment peddled by standard American studio fare. What's the Danish word for "Sarah Jessica Parker"?
Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine
Dyrholm has an unusual magnetism, the kind of face that seems open and unguarded, yet you can't figure out just what it is she's thinking - she and Brosnan share an excitingly adult chemistry.
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
Even with its flaws and occasional flat-footed choices, this is still a rare movie for grownups.
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
Rather than give her protagonists vivid interior lives, Bier defines them in relation to the satellite characters who circle them ...
Stephen Holden, New York Times
Despite the gorgeous sights and rollicking sounds of sunny Italy, a Scandinavian heaviness hangs over the film, with a screenplay by Ms. Bier's frequent collaborator Anders Thomas Jensen, based on a story they developed.
James Verniere, Boston Herald
'Mamma Mia!' without ABBA or the singing.
Kelly Vance, East Bay Express
Coffee-table harmlessness.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
All you need is a better movie.
Brian Orndorf, Blu-ray.com
It's lesser Bier, spotlighting an intentional creative move to reach the wider audience she deserves. It's perfect for the rainy day rental, but any expectations beyond that are bound to be crushed.
Annlee Ellingson, Paste Magazine
Overall Love is all you need for a feel-good viewing experience that's enjoyable without feeling superficial.
Matt Pais, RedEye
Has nothing to do with The Beatles' 'All You Need Is Love.' Based on the movie's low quantity of romance, it may as well be called The Walrus I Am.
Simon Brookfield, We Got This Covered
It's thanks to a calming Italian setting and amiable chemistry between its leads that the film is able to rise above its conventional setup and sometimes erratic and convoluted plot developments.
Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews
The whole of "Love Is All You Need" makes me want to book a plane to Italy's Amalfi Coast for a long vacation.
Kirk Honeycutt, honeycuttshollywood.com
Susanne Bier is unwilling to abandon her own clear-eyed, skeptical view of mankind and its troubles even when in a lighthearted mood.
Leonard Maltin, Leonard Maltin's Picks
Director Bier, and her longtime writing partner Anders Thomas Jensen, wove serious undertones into the fabric of this bittersweet romance.
S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media
Older teens, adults can say "I do" to wedding dramedy.
Erica Abeel, Film Journal International
Departing her trademark dramas, noted Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier remixes the rom-com in a sparkling cocktail that celebrates the messiness of life.
Erik McClanahan, The Playlist
Overstuffed Love Is All You Need an unsatisfying, predictable rom-com from Susanne Bier
Tony Medley, Tolucan Times
Trine Dryholm proves she could be 'the best actress ever' and Pierce Brosnan is equally good in this tender romance that has several twists and turns.

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'Love Is All You Need'. Brosnan and Dyrholm turn in two great performances, but the screenplay makes weak choices in creating conflict. Brosnan and Dyrholm's characters are well fleshed out, and undergo a cliched, yet well acted arc. Then there are the extremely poorly… More
'Love Is All You Need'. Brosnan and Dyrholm turn in two great performances, but the screenplay makes weak choices in creating conflict. Brosnan and Dyrholm's characters are well fleshed out, and undergo a cliched, yet well acted arc. Then there are the extremely poorly written husband sister-in-law. There's nothing good about these two, and they seem there to move the story and character development of others along, doing so in a rather crude manner that made me cringe. This unevenness totally disappoints, and takes away from the film as a whole. Brosnan is a most pleasant surprise!
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Hairdresser Ida (Dyrholm) sports a blond wig, concealing the fact she has just come through chemo treatment for breast cancer, yet still awaits final results. She returns home to find her husband, Leif (Bodnia), cheating on her with a younger woman from his office. The couple's… More
Hairdresser Ida (Dyrholm) sports a blond wig, concealing the fact she has just come through chemo treatment for breast cancer, yet still awaits final results. She returns home to find her husband, Leif (Bodnia), cheating on her with a younger woman from his office. The couple's daughter, Astrid (Egelind), is about to be married in Italy, so they decide to travel there separately. At the airport, Ida crashes her car into that of Philip (Brosnan), a grumpy and misanthropic fruit magnate whose outlook is as bitter as the lemons he trades in. Philip just happens to be the father of the young man Ida's daughter is marrying. Reluctantly, Philip and Ida travel to Italy together. Once there, an unlikely romance blossoms between the two. Scandinavian cinema, and its TV, has become synonymous with gritty crime dramas in recent years. The romantic comedy isn't the first genre you associate with the region, particularly Denmark, the home of such controversy courting directors as Lars Von Trier, Nicholas Winding Refn and Thomas Vinterberg. Indeed, Susanne Bier, the director of 'Love Is All You Need', is herself known for much heavier fare. The theme of coping with death runs through her work and is again present here, with Brosnan playing a man who becomes angry at the world following his wife's senseless death in a car accident. That's not to say this is a heavy movie, far from it, but it does contain a level of substance absent from the romantic comedies Hollywood churns out. For a start, our two leads are actually likable and worth rooting for. Dyrholm feels like an everyday middle-aged woman who's been dropped into a rom-com scenario. Brosnan's character is more of a movie archetype but he manages to make the role seem fresh. The Irishman is a very under-rated actor, possibly because he doesn't take himself too seriously, but he possesses a range he rarely receives credit for. In the over-looked 2006 western, 'Seraphim Falls' he delivered a stunning dramatic performance and here he shows just how good his comic timing is. Apart from a disappointingly predictable ending, 'LIAYN' is a charming rom-com aimed at middle-aged viewers but accessible to all but those too ignorant to read subtitles.

Love Is All You Need (2013)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

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