So I watched Love Is All You Need…

From the title I’m pretty sure you already know what kinda movie this is going to be – gooey, romantic and probably something your girlfriend will force you to see. This movie is exactly that.

Basic plot: Ida (Trine Dyrholm) is a cheerful, loving mother who, after beating cancer, finds out that her husband is cheating on her. Phillip (Pierce Brosnan) is a stern, workaholic who’s given up on love and happiness. The two meet en route to Italy  – where their kids are getting married – and obviously because they’re such different people and not suited for each other at all they fall madly in love. Yes,  it’s the same plot as…ever romcom ever.

That being said, the movie is actually quite pleasing to watch. Most of the dialogue is in Danish (so you spend ninety percent of the movie reading) but this really helps set the film apart from a normal “Hollywood” romcom. From the first scene to the last you can tell that this movie wasn’t made by an American.

Not that there’s anything wrong with American romcoms but this movie possesses a charm and rustic quality that typical Hollywood romcoms lack.

The best thing about this movie is Trine Dyrholm’s performance. She’s loveable. That’s the best way to describe her, she makes you fall in love with her. From her quirky, awkward humour to the sombre reflective moments she has over her cancer; she makes you want to keep watching.

Pierce Brosnan also puts in a solid shift( a lot better than he did in The November Man). Movies like this are always built on the chemistry between the two leads and the chemistry in this movie is palpable. I loved seeing how Ida and Phillip’s relationship went from awkward interactions to loving embraces.

The problem I had with this movie was it often lacked consistency. It focuses heavily in certain aspects of the story and then glosses over others. It felt like the director was in the editing room and realised she only had thirty minutes  left to resolve an hour worth of story and just tried to fit in as much as she could in the last act. Sadly this makes the movie seem vapid at certain points. You feel like a scene is missing or that the characters suddenly changed everything about themselves without any reason or cause.

In the end, this error takes a lot of the charm and rhythm away from this movie. But I still enjoyed watching it. It’s the tried and tested romcom recipe but it offers enough drama and charm to make it entertaining.

I’d wait for this to come to dvd or tv. It’s worth watching but not worth you making an effort to see it. 6/10.