- Actors: Joaquin Phoenix, Claire Danes, Sean Penn
- Directors: Thomas Vinterberg
- Format: NTSC
- Region: All Regions
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Alliance Films
- Release Date: Sep 13 2005
- Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000AMPX7I
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,481 in DVD (See Top 100 in DVD)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Joaquin Phoenix, Claire Danes, and a startlingly coiffured Sean Penn topline this visually striking hybrid of science fiction and art-house drama from Dogme 95 co-creator Thomas Vinterberg (The Celebration). Phoenix and Danes are a recently separated Polish couple in the year 2021 who find their marital troubles overshadowed by a spate of strange and ominous phenomena plaguing the Earth–-people mysteriously drop dead in their tracks, cold snaps threaten a new Ice Age, and in Uganda, citizens must anchor themselves to the ground or risk sailing off into space. Add to this confluence of oddities a subplot involving clones of Danes, a murder plot hatched by her brother, and Penn as Phoenix's eccentric sibling who periodically weighs in from a plane, and you've got an occasionally impenetrable (and not particularly romantic) picture that may baffle fans of the stars' Hollywood efforts. However, the cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle is beautiful, and those inclined towards more eclectic movie consumption might find some chilly treats to chew on here. --Paul Gaita
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
An Incomprehensible Mess of a Film,
By
This review is from: It's All About Love (DVD)
Frankly, I expected much more from this film when I began viewing it, but I should have known that this film was heading into trouble when it begins with a narration of the main protagonist, which in retrospect was totally inappropriate for this kind of movie.The film is mostly incomprehensible nonsense. In fact, this film has to be one of the worst I have ever seen in its failure to tell a story. From what I gather, this film is supposed to be about an Armageddon due to global warming, and as the title seems to imply, the absence of love in the world as it heads toward the abyss. Yet, what occurs in this film is not only bizarre, but ridiculous to the point that it is difficult to comprehend anything in this film on any reasonable level. Even the small role of Sean Penn is difficult to fathom in respect to his relationship to the film and its characters. I found myself working laboriously whilst watching this film attempting to understand what was going on, and the motivations for it. I managed to get to the end of the film, possibly because the film was like a riddle to solve, and once at the end of the film I realized there was nothing to solve. It was a film that tried to be artistic with a message, but instead resulted in an incomprehensible mess. Pity.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Has some good ideas, but the plot is BAD,
This review is from: It's All About Love (DVD)
Throughout the entire movie, I had the feeling it could've been fantastic, but it falls short in the end.I loved the unusual camera angles and how they sometimes lingered on a particular moment. Many people would find these cinematic "stills" boring, but more enlightened audiences will appreciate the silent artistry contained within them. The cinematography was drop dead gorgeous, and both Joaquin Phoenix and Claire Danes never looked better. It was a bit strange for me to hear their slightly forced Polish accents, but over-all it was tolerable. There was considerable intrigue and suspense in some scenes, and the romance between the two leads was absolutely lovely. Not at all hokey-pokey, which is a great relief to me because I hate that formulaic stuff. Now for the downsides. I didn't mind that the world was entering some sort of global Ice Age, but as a person who's interested in physics, I thought the "flying Ugandans" phenomenon was TOTALLY ludicrous. As long as the planet Earth has mass, there WILL be gravity everywhere around it's surface! And Sean Penn, whose role served no purpose whatsoever, was awful here. His Polish accent grated my nerves to no end! The plot was needlessly confusing (and not in that cool David Lynch sort of way) and it gave me the impression that there were continuity problems, although this might have been the director's intention. Over-all, I'd recommend "It's All About Love" only to those who enjoy artistic films that are out of the ordinary. Other folks will hate the seemingly non-sensical sequence of events or be bored to death by the long, drawn-out moments. The DVD contains no extras, in case anyone was curious.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
2.5 out of 5 stars (48 customer reviews) 17 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful, Unique, Misunderstood Film,
By Lostgirl - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: It's All About Love (DVD)
It's All About Love has been criminally underrated. It's been called confused, convoluted, and pretentious. Well let's try another adjective: different. This is not the same kind of thing we've seen a million times before. In fact it seems to defy genre pigeon-holing.Thomas Vinterberg, co-founder of the Dogma 95 moment towards "purity" in cinema made the excellent "Festen" and then took his craft to the other extreme with this futuristic fable. Set in a near future where the earth is on the brink of a new ice age the film tells the story of a Polish professor, John and his wife Elena plan to divorce. The couple have grown apart due to Elena's demanding schedule (she's a champion figure-skater) but when John arrives in New York to sign the final divorce papers, Elena begs him not to leave, confessing that she's in a danger that she doesn't completely understand. The plot that follows is twisting and at times intentionally absurd: People drop dead in the streets due to a mysterious heart ailment, in mid-july it starts to snow all over the world, a man once afraid of flying overdoses on his medication and is now afriad to land, and as everything people think they understand is turned upside-down it's impossible to know who to trust. But to view this film you have to put aside conventional notions of narrative structure or how a plot should unfold. Viewing this film is very much like participating in a dream. You have to go where it takes you- even if that's somewhere unusual. Each shot in this movie is beautifully photographed channeling Hitchcock visually. Every thought in Joaquin Phoenix's head seems to appear on his face, while Claire Danes deftly channels a Hitchcock blonde. Alun Armstong and Sean Penn excel in smaller roles. When I first saw this I wasn't sure if I liked it. But I found myself thinking about it a lot in the days following. On second viewing I think I understood it better. But it's not a film that's meant to be understood so much as experienced. I've "understood" it differently each time I've watched. I would recommend this film to anyone who is open to the experience. 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
I'm just confused,
By Ferdy - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: It's All About Love (DVD)
This movie is visually beautiful and extremely well cast. I think my problem with it is that I tried to make it make sense in some way. I kept looking for hidden meaning and symbolism and could never find a connection. The two main characters are a married couple who have been seperated by the business of their lives. He is a quiet professor and she is a world famous champion figure skater. While they have been seperated, the world has begun to go crazy with strange weather, unusual deaths and people becoming untethered from the Earth's gravity. I thought, at first, that their reunion would be the catalyst for setting things right. The meaning that only together could they make sense of the world. But that doesn't happen. And there's a weird subplot about clones of Elena that just didn't fit with the rest of the story at all. I read Lostgirl's review and perhaps what you need to do is watch this without any expectation and without looking for meaning. Simply enjoy the beauty of the movie. For me, I don't think it's worth another viewing. I prefer movies that do have a plot that makes sense and that I can understand.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
But Director of Photography Should Get 5 Stars,
By Sarah "Lemon Lady Records" - Published on Amazon.com
And I can't quit watching it. I recorded it on DVR from cable in the US. I thought that Joaquin was terrible the first time I saw it, after being such a fan of his from Quills and Gladiator and other movies I've seen of his (and both of those have heavy accents, so what give with him?). But in subsequent watchings, as I often do, I think I finally get it. It is not too meaty of a part and he is trying to play kind of an ordinary guy to his skating star wife. Reminds me of Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut, the nerdy doctor. Claire Danes, on the other hand, is outstanding. She reminds me a lot of Franka Potente (Blow, All I Want, Run Lola Run). I watched her TV series long ago and liked her but she has grown into an amazing actress. They both had a little accent problem. They were supposed to be Polish and I kept telling myself that Joaquin was brought to the US as a baby (I'm *really* trying to like him). Claire has her moments when she reverts to American, but does a much better job. Sean Penn's accent is over the top, completely (but he makes a good Greek Chorus). I am surprised at him as he is usually so prepared. I have to blame the director for this, for there is a thread of the actors not caring, just going through the motions (except Claire). It is set 20 years in the future and very plausible (except I hope the concept of cell phones changes!) and where the gravity holes in Africa show up is anyone's guess. But the basic plot is pretty cool. I am a figure skater and they got it right, mostly. I could tell the skating doubles were not world class skters, but most people wouldn't and the choreography was very nice. I really like the premise that if people are lonely or lovelorn, something goes to their hearts and they die, and I think a lot of people would relate to that. I have watched it about 5 times now but I think it would have a specialized audience which is why I give it a '3'. Don't buy this for your kids for the skating as it is very violent in the rink.
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