Love Is All You Need (2012)

Just what I expected

Just perfect...

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I liked this film, despite its chick-flick moments. Other reviewers have adequately covered the plot complexities and I agree with the positive reviews. I also agree that the Danish Title should have been kept for the English release. Let's hope that the Danish film industry continues to produce good product like this.The Danish actors in this film are all perfect for their parts. I wish I could say the same for Pierce Brosnan. Don't get me wrong because as he has aged, he makes a perfect bitter middle-aged widower. The Pierce problem is that he can't speak any Danish beyond "thanks" and you're welcome. The movie makes the pretence that he understands Danish but can't or won't speak it. The result is that when Pierce's character interacts with Danish characters, they speak Danish, he speaks English and it looks as if the two aren't interacting at all. Worse than that, Pierce's face goes completely blank as if it's obvious he doesn't really understand Danish. BTW, all the Danish actors can speak English at least passably to unaccented and fluent.While I think that Pierce Brosnan would be perfect for this film if it were set in an English country, he's entirely out of place as an expat industrialist. How can anyone build a successful business without making an effort to speak the language? Successful business relationships are like any relationship. They require patience,understanding and a common language. Maybe their is something I don't understand about Danish pride in their language but I can't help but believe that there must be a middle-aged actor somewhere with the Danish/English skills to really make the Phillip character believable.

This movie was about relationships and how they intertwine into each other. It seemed that a lot of the individuals overlapped into each others relationships. For example, the daughter who was about to get married, and her husband to be, faced overlapping behaviours. And then the father of the potential son in-law started to have feelings for the potential daughter in-laws mother. To me, these are blurred lines. As I can imagine the feelings the daughter and son would have when they find out that their parents were romantically involved. In this story, the blurred lines, seem to be acceptable, because of circumstances, however, boundaries is a factor. Does true love bypass anything else? Does true love transcend the rules that society upholds? Or does an individual have to always stay true to society based boundaries versus following ones own authentic feelings of what is experienced as true love?

"Love Is All You Need" tells a story of a woman who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She comes home and find her husband frolicking with another woman, just days before she flies to Italy to attend her daughter's wedding. The plot sounds eventful already, and indeed the interpersonal relationships in this film is portrayed beautifully, in an engaging and meaningful manner. Almost every relationship portrayed has some sort of defects, because nothing in this world is perfect. As the film quotes, "You can never give or receive enough love". "Love Is All You Need" is a film to feel with your heart, and empathise with the characters' joy and pain. Maybe it's a film that you have to be in a certain mood to like, and I was certainly in that mood to be touched by it.

There is a reason to be happy about Pierce Brosnen humbly accepting to play the role of Phillip .In America there are few models for doing grief work and few models for manhood.Phillip is a knight without armor in the way he sees Ida a cancer survivor as well as his gay son. His eyes see up to the skies and down to the seas. Mourning and melancholia is complicated and Pierce in real life has experienced this.I am reminded of the 12 step program: life is unmanageable, I cannot control things, I am not God and have to rely on a power greater than myself.Phillip could play God in this film. After all he is paying for his son's wedding and Ida asks him to read the letter regarding her final prognosis.Instead, Phillip reacts peacefully and humbly by making observations rather than emotionally reacting.Isn't that what adults do?I am still taking notes on how to respond to betrayals that have occurred for me over 15 years ago!Yes in the end, love is all we need and we either fall into His everlasting arms or not.I left the film feeling more love, joy and hope for the future!