Film review: Love is all you need

Director: Suzanne Bier
Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Trine Dyrholm,Kim Bodnia, Paprika Steen, Sebastian Jessen, Christiane Schaumburg-Müller, Molly Blixt Egelind
Rating: (M)
2 stars (out of 5)

Following on from her Academy Award-winning film In a Better World, Danish director Suzanne Bier steers well clear of producing another heart-wrenching drama, opting instead for a paint-by-numbers comedy.

So who better to cast as one of the romantic leads than Pierce Brosnan. Brosnan plays Phillip, a wealthy executive specialising in the trade of fresh fruits and vegetables. Phillip supposedly understands Danish, but only ever answers in English, which is curious, especially as it takes a while to figure out quite why he is based in Denmark.

On the other side of the romance equation is Ida (Trine Dyrholm), a comely 40-something, who on the eve of finishing breast cancer treatment, discovers that Leif (Kim Bodnia), her buffoon of a husband, is having an affair.

Meanwhile, Phillip's son Patrick (Sebastian Jessen) is planning to marry Ida's daughter Astrid (Molly Blixt Egelind) in Italy, and when the parents run into each other (literally) at Copenhagen airport, it's really no secret to how this is going to shake down.

When all the disparate elements come together for the nuptials on the majestic Amalfi Coast, the drama is buried under a series of ham-fisted setups while we are bludgeoned with the never-ending refrain of That's Amore. If the film ended here it might be easier to forgive a few transgressions, but unfortunately there is still time run.

Best thing: The gratuitous use of beautiful landscape shots.

Worst thing: Being so blatantly obvious all the time.

See it with: Anyone who liked Under the Tuscan Sun or Mamma Mia.

By Mark Orton.

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