It's All About Love

Australia released, PAL/Region 4 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages:o English (Dolby Digital 2.0) Synopsis: An estranged couple are brought back together as they run for their lives in a future world where science as well as emotions have gone haywire in this sci-fi drama from director Thomas Vinterberg. In the year 2021, the world seems to have become a very strange place; an unexplained ailment is causing children to drop dead on the streets of New York, ice storms and floods strike major cities without notice, summer is marked by periodic snowfalls, and a strange hole has appeared in the Ugandan sky that causes people to loose the grip of gravity and drift off into space. In the midst of all this, internationally known figure skater Elena (Claire Danes) is getting divorced from her husband John (Joaquin Phoenix) after an 18-month separation. John has arrived in New York City to have Elena sign the divorce papers, but after finally making his way through her entourage, he discovers her to be unhappy and out of sorts, and she asks him to stay. John soon learns that Elena and her staff have a secret -- David (Alun Armstrong), her manager, has had Elena cloned, and now there are three duplicates of her to stand in if she should be killed or injured. John's discovery puts both him and Elena in grave danger, and they are soon on the run from David and his underlings. Meanwhile, Marciello (Sean Penn) ponders the unstable state of the world as he flies from one place to another after a heroic dose of pills designed to combat the fear of flying. It's All About Love received its North American premier at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.Special Features:o Filmographieso Interactive Menuo Photo Galleryo Scene Accesso Trailer(s) Product Description

Hell has frozen over

I set my Tivo to search out SciFi films and this is what I got. This movie is a success in just one sense, it is a triumph of "artistic" gibberish over logic. SciFi it is not; unless a languorously shy ice age and other utterly ridiculous departures from rationality (like Africans floating around in the air due to an inexplicable and selective loss of gravity) is what now passes for Science Fiction. This is fiction without science and a torpid story that lacks intellectual gravity. Somehow, the writer manages to throw clones into the mix without even the slightest regard for reason. This mess makes no sense. Apart from the writer's apparent fixation with planes and hotels, the script goes where the actors go; nowhere. Occasional strolls down the street or walks through the airport by the characters invariably include encounters with dead bodies just lying about. Evidently, these forlorn folk croaked because of broken hearts. But, sentiment dies there as the New Yorkers depicted in this brain dead film take no notice of the corpses and routinely step over them without blinking.

There is a great deal of sleeping that goes on in this moronic production. Throughout the film, the principal characters are constantly dropping into unconsciousness, which is exactly the state the director must have been in when he should have been directing.

This movie is a tragedy; a personal tragedy for me since I shall never recover the hour and fifty minutes that were stolen from me by the blackguards responsible for this piece of.......art. August 1, 2005

But Director of Photography Should Get 5 Stars

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. July 19, 2005

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