Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageIt's All About Love (2002)
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Vinterberg's follow-up to Festen is a thrillingly dreamy sci-fi allegory set in 2021. John (Phoenix) stops off in New York to see that Elena (Danes) signs her divorce papers. She's distant and strangely agitated, despite (or because of) an entourage of managers, publicists, assistants and bodyguards, all dedicated to the safekeeping of the world's premier ice skater. Persuaded to stay another day, John glimpses his wife's doppelgänger - or thinks he does - then steals away with the real thing (or is she?). The future according to Vinterberg looks suspiciously familiar: big business is taking care of itself, even as the ecology fluctuates between heatwaves and snowstorms; people are dropping dead from heart neglect; and the Ugandans are floating off into the stratosphere. It's a film of mysterious discontinuities, Lynchian in its jet lag disruptions of time and space; a New World Disorder conspiracy thriller reminiscent of Wenders' Until the End of the World in scope and The Manchurian Candidate in its lunatic conviction. It's also, clearly, the work of a film-maker confronting all manner of new horizons. Sean Penn plays Vinterberg, in effect, taking notes from on high as he circumnavigates the globe in a plane that can't land. Superbly photographed, with pitch-perfect supporting performances, it's an all-or-nothing affair. Naive, preposterous, spellbinding and strange, this audacious folly braves ridicule. But if you get it, you might just love it.Author: TCh
Cast & crew
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Producer: Birgitte Hald
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Claire Danes, Douglas Henshall, Alun Armstrong, Margo Martindale, Mark Strong, Geoffrey Hutchings, Sean Penn, Harry Ditson, Thomas Bo Larsen full cast
Genre(s): Science Fiction
Duration: 104 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Review: Penélope Cruz more raunchy than ever in 'Nine'
Dave Calhoun reports on Rob Marshall's Oscar-touted musical with Daniel Day-Lewis playing a troubled director
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'
Jim Jarmusch has followed ‘Broken Flowers’ with an esoteric crime mystery. Dave Calhoun speaks to him from his New York office
Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'
Dave Calhoun meets the 49-year-old, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater to discuss his new comedy
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now