Love Is All (2007) User Reviews

Finally a Dutch movie that isn't afraid of love

[erikweijers · 8/10 · 22 October 2007]

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..

Just good

[D_vd_B · 8/10 · 21 October 2007]

I saw "Alles is Liefde" recently and I liked it. The advertisement for the film is strange..sometimes this film is presented as a pure romantic movie, but most often you'll only see the ruder jokes. As is with the truth sometimes, the film itself lies between those two.

The acting is good. It seemed that Dutch mainstream film left the soap level some years ago. There are a lot of new faces and a number of old ones. Carice van Houten for example, rising star that is close to international stardom, is a great actress that has little trouble with playing totally different roles. In Alles is Liefde, she is simply great.

I will not spoil much about the story, but it starts great with the arrival of Sinterklaas. The mood is just right, the acting just fits and it all feels very real (even if you live far from Amsterdam). The directing seems pretty solid and the sets are good(production is sometimes very weak in dutch cinema).

The acting is good. There are many, and with that I really mean MANY characters that we follow during the movie and they are all so different. We see a working class family, unhappy saleswoman, royalty womanizer, gay couple, mothers that seem confused about this point of their lives and prehaps the greatest of them all; a middle aged man that comes back to Amsterdam to do something about his past and gets famous and pushed around in a situation that is very public and absolutely not for him.

The only thing that I didn't like about this film is the music. Sure, it's pretty good, but there is just a little bit too much of it. It's mostly mainstream music and it's very romantic, but when you use this kind of music on any situation it's kinda loses its power later on.

The rest; great. This movie is fun and romantic. There is enough for anybody, so not many people will be bored while watching this (except the Chuck Norrise-like filmlovers).

A rare Dutch gem

[lindarctica · 8/10 · 12 July 2018]

Honestly, there aren't many movies from my homecountry that i like, and if i hate one genre; it's sappy romances. This romance is however far from sappy! It uses humor, a grounded Dutch view on every topic, a good dose of sillyness and compelling characters to deliver a heartwarming story, full of important messages. Some cliché, some aren't, and some are plain in-your-face. The use of the Dutch famous holiday Sinterklaas makes it a movie that can be enjoyed with the whole family, although it is riddled with (sometimes not so) subtles innuendo's. There are a few things that maybe confuse foreign viewers, like what the Sinterklaas holiday actually is about. (no it's not santa clause) and little references to Dutch celebrity culture here and there.

A few points

[Ivo_Martijn · 7/10 · 5 November 2007]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In terms of Dutch mainstream movie-making this is as good as it gets. Writer Kim van Kooten excels in writing scenes. They're witty, no longer than necessary and often ending with a punchline. Structure wise she's slightly less solid, but overall she's definitely one of the best in Holland. The line "To him, it's an escape from reality" caused a roar of laughter when I attended. And there where more. There are a few points though. -In the final scene, how does Jan know that Kees is on his way to meet him? He surely behaves as if he's expecting him. And how does Kees know where to find him? -From one scene to the next suddenly there's snow everywhere. That's fine, but it would've been better if there'd been one shot in which the snow started falling. Dramatically, that could've been useful too. -The film could have used a scene which shows Kiki realizing that Valentijn won't show up on their date. -The group of 50 children cycles in front of a police car, there's even a close of the police officer showing his surprise. Cut to a news reporter saying that the children are missing and the police doesn't have a clue where they are. From the point of visual storytelling, that's inconsistent. -During the emotional reunion of Klaasje and Dennis we don't know if Sarah has left the apartment yet. The tension of the question if she'll suddenly show up during Klaasje's and Dennis' embrace, gets in the way of a full emotional response from the audience. -The snow flakes around Valentijn on his horse are CGI. That's fine, I suppose originally they weren't gonna use show in that scene. But overall, highly enjoyable and well done.

Shamelessly stolen Dutch version of "Love actually"

[pravda-5 · 6/10 · 16 February 2008]

It is not a bad film. It is pleasant to see, even though painfully predictable throughout. Nice actors. But the script is a shameless copy of British "Love actually". Besides, Kim van Kooten must have been living in some sort of a fantasy world: no foreigners ("niet Westerse allochtonen") in this movie at all! This isn't today's Netherlands; perhaps, this is how the Dutch middle class would like it to be, but it certainly does not reflect the reality! But then again, in real life Prince of Orange doesn't walk around the shops without security either,does he? All in all, not a bad fairy tale, but I would prefer to see something original, not just a cheap copy of films from other countries.

Super!

[JaapKnasterhuis · 9/10 · 14 October 2007]

Colorful, touching, and very funny! This can be considered as a Dutch version of Love Actually (even the fonts of the credit titles are similar), which is a big compliment to Love Actually. As the stories and situations here are very Dutch (including gay marriage and a vehicle carefully locked to a bridge), I think this film will move Dutch viewers more than the British version did. I know I wanted to cry at the end, but I was there with my girlfriend. Super performances of the all-star cast, all playing the roles they do best. And the movie shows Amsterdam from its most wonderful side as well!

The movie does raise a worrying question though: what will we do when He really dies? My suggestion: we ask Gijs Scholten van Aschat. Any other candidates?

Try to avoid the trailer, which spoils some surprises.

Moving story that uses comedy to strengthen itself

[the_ocean_machine_is_set · 10/10 · 28 October 2007]

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.

Wonderful movie with a great cast, sometimes excellent acting and a script that is catching including the credits!

[demiendepemium · 9/10 · 19 October 2007]

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!

absurd, predictable and pathetic.

[gonzale-1 · 1/10 · 7 December 2009]

A wonderful film showing a bunch of crappy characters, a nonsense storyline that tries to imitate Shortcuts, with very easy and convenient relations between the characters, highly improbable, with hints of racism spread a bit everywhere, bathing in this soup of forced laughs and unrealistic events. The writer of this film has probably never lived a love story or lived in the real world at all. This film looks like a mixture of all the Walt Disney movies put together, in high speed, and the result is an absurd shitty movie.

First: How nice it is that the man who runs the funeral home where the dead Santa is brought is also the lost son of the new Santa ? And that the young 16 year old guy who works on the parade for the dead Santa is also at the funeral home on the day of the funeral, but for his own dead father, and meets the daughter of dead Santa who's 3 times his age and tells her upfront that he wants to have sex with her ? What on earth did the writer think?? An really, a Prince can stop a plane while it's accelerating to take off ?

Cheap humor, unrealistic characters, events, the worst plot ever... 1 star is actually generous.

most certainly not rubbish

[gernick-1 · 8/10 · 8 November 2007]

Of course there are slight niggles (dreary shots of Dutch highways, Amsterdam is almost a village) but why dwell on such minor things when the overall feel of the movie is lovely. The emotions are real and it's very easy to connect with many of the characters.

The jokes are there but what sticks best is the joy the film brings. It may not sound very critic-y, but i've yet to end a sentence with an exclamation mark, unlike my learned yet ill-literate fellow opnionator.

Carice van Houten is lovely, if frustrating. Paul de Leeuw can act! Who knew? (Who Cared). Daan Schuurmans is wonderfully understated. Many more actors will surprise you with their acting qualities, no doubt helped by Kim van Kootens convincing lines and scenes.

Go see this movie, you will not be disappointed. It will restore your faith in Dutch cinema, just like "Simon" did.

Zo goed wassie ook weer niet.

[virindra · 4/10 · 22 February 2008]

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.

Movie is a cheap rip-off

[Juch · 2/10 · 10 November 2007]

The past years many good Dutch films were released. Zwartboek was the highlight of 2007 in Dutch cinema, almost winning an Oscar for best foreign movie. In the more recent past other good Dutch movies were released; Phileine zegt sorry, van God los, Ik ook van jou, Minoes, and even Vet Hard.Alles is liefde was something I looked forward to as it was said to be a very good movie. How disappointed was I. The movie suffers from bad scripting. Kim van Kooten is a much better actress than she is a scripter. The plot is very unrealistic and, apart from a few brief exceptions, the dialogue is terrible. The movie is, in many ways, very much based on "Love Actually" released some years earlier. However, unlike Love Actually, it is not very successful as a comedy and ultimately as a feel-good movie. Also, this movie does not contribute to the Dutch cinema. There were Dutch movies are, normally, very creative, original and in some ways provocative, this movie is none. For its unrealistic scripting, its failure as a comedy and the fact that it is a rip-off, I do not recommend it. Watch Love Actually.

Absolute Rubbish! (Don't believe the hype.)

[chrichtonsworld · 2/10 · 29 October 2007]

The reviewers that loved this movie must have been involved in making this movie. Because I honestly can say that this is by far the worst Dutch movie I have ever seen! To compare this movie to "Love Actually" is an insult. Only the last 20 minutes had me entertained a bit. There is nothing clever about the script. The different story lines never get interesting. The acting is not bad. But Carice van Houten who was superb in "Zwartboek (Blackbook)" doesn't convince. The actors can't be blamed for this. It is the director who does a poor job. The actors don't get enough screen time to make the scenes interesting. Just when a scene does spark interest the director cuts to another storyline. This way it is really hard to care for the characters. The fact that some characters are likable is purely to their own merit. This movie is supposed to be about relationships. But sometimes it is very hard to make out what the relationships are and what actually the problems are in those relationships. Most of the problems depicted are superficial and never show any depth. I was expecting at least some matters that were recognizable. In my opinion "Alles is liefde" tries too hard to be sophisticated,while it's not. Apart from the last 20 minutes this movie is boring as hell. What on earth were they thinking when they decided to produce a movie like this? Absolute waste of time!

Has a moment or two

[pietclausen · 5/10 · 10 July 2018]

Just saw this movie and don't get the story. It is gobbledegook and in parts not in good taste. A comedy? Definitely not! Romance? Certainly not in the normal sense! The movie throws a number of people together, almost all of them sad misfits. It features a cougar jumping a 16 year old and other unsavory characters. There is also a silver fox who doesn't pull it off, but gets a prize in the end. But at least some souls find love, which is the title of the film.

I did like the start of the movie with the arrival of Sinterklaas, his antics and heroic deed. But when he ran down the road, the movie got lost. Pity, as a child I lived in Amsterdam and wanted to relive this festivity. After all I played Sinterklaas myself in adulthood and even was a Zwarte Piet, with much better results. Because of the Sinterklaas bit in the beginning my overall rating is a modest 5.

Grappig

[dennis-busby · 1 July 2021]

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