Love Is All

I heared a lot about this movie. I'm not a dutch film lover. But I like movies with Paul de Leeuw in it. He's so wrong, that makes him funny.

But it was valentine's day and I had to buy my wife a present, so I thought why not the limited edition. Did I know that this movie was bad?! The movie is about relationships and how several people are somehow connected to each other. Is this a new concept? No it isn't. The actors and actresses sucked a lot! Wendy van Dijk was very funny in Ushi en Van Dijk, but in this movie she could show us that she cannot act at all.

Even that sucker, Valerio, cannot act. But I knew that years ago when he had his dating show on tmf. That is very pity, but I still don't know why people think that a pretty boy can automatically act. It ain't so! To stand by this statement I will bring up the next thing: Paul the Leeuw is a very good actor, but very underrated. Paul is Like the dutch Robin Williams. I am a huge fan of Robin Williams, he is not an attractive guy, but he can act as the best! He can act comic roles, but also dramatic or even serious.

At the moment in the film where the boyfriend of Paul runs out of his house in the snow to get his bike, there Paul stands with a beautiful smile. That was acting. Great acting is about not saying anything, but saying a lot with your facial impressions. Very well, if the rest of the movie was as good as that one moment, I had liked that movie a lot.

But this movie was not about Paul de Leeuw, there were a lot of other bad actors and actresses in the movie that made this movie (for me) not worth watching a second time. Or at least I'll fast forward it to the moment of Paul in the snow.

One of the best dutch movies i've seen so far. The acting is good, sometimes even excellent. Great work by some unknown actors and actresses. A lot of funny characters played by famous dutch people. The script is uplifting and smart, with some nice twists. Sometimes some obvious connections between the different story lines that are pointed out during the film, but still not overrated or overdone. A lot of humor with a nice combination of love, drama and twisted humor and awareness. A film you must see if you like dutch movies. Good girlfriend-boyfriend material for a night at the cinema, or even to watch with good friends before a night in the town!

Gezellig om met je family te kijken tijdens een koude dag. Maar 1 keer is meer dan genoeg! Voor een Nederlands best okay.

It's incomplete to name this great film a comedy. It is absolutely funny, but the real strength lies in the more emotional parts. With great acting and great storytelling, this is one of the best dutch movies ever. In my opinion, the only dutch movie that beats this one is Simon, but Alles Is Liefde is probably more for everyone. Following a lot of different story lines, it kind of resembles the best movie ever made, Magnolia ofcource, as stories get more and more emotional, and eventually you just find yourself crying at every damn scene. A beautiful movie about the moments in between. And a hilarious appearance of dutch comedians De Vliegende Panters :D.

Who wouldn't want to unwrap Carice van Houten from her gift costume? She deserves her prince on the white horse because she comes to realize that she should believe in love. I also liked Anneke Blok, who plays a type that is rarely portrayed in Dutch movies: the busy mother who arranges everything and is heading towards a nervous breakdown. The gay couple is portrayed so matter-of-factly - not as some statement - that you are hardly aware that you are watching two men kiss each other on the lips.

The first half hour of the movie is especially funny. The movie then loses some of its momentum, despite the rapid cuts between the story lines. Some of the jokes fall flat and one extra character is hastily introduced. The finale on snowy Santa Claus's birthday makes up for a lot, although I found it a bit too understated to serve as the climax and bold moral statement that this movie deserves.

The multiple-story-line approach is a real balancing act and I applaud the filmmakers for their guts to set the bar so high. Also, I think to make a positive movie about love is in a way more daring than the cynical approach with a lot of cheap nudity, which since long has been the standard in Dutch movie-making.

Judging by the numbers of visitors, the filmmakers have succeeded in making the audience believe in love, at least for a short while..