All You Need Is Love (2018)

Directed by: Will Koopman | 113 minutes | romance, comedy | Actors: Fedja van Huêt, Bracha van Doesburgh, Waldemar Torenstra, Anniek Pheifer, Rop Verheijen, Peter Paul Muller, Annet Malherbe, Trudy Labij, Ilias Addab, Yannick Jozefzoon, Frank Lammers, Diederik Ebbinge, Yenthe Bos, Holly Mae Brood, Hajo Bruins Malou Gorter, Janni Goslinga, Britte Lagcher, Fahd Larhzaoui, Eva Laurenssen, Susan Radder, Gigi Ravelli, Jasha Rudge, Katrien van Beurden, Hannah van Lunteren, Stijn Vervoort, Lies Visschedijk, Peggy Vrijens

Christmas is a time of traditions and one of them is the Christmas special of the television program ‘All You Need is Love’. Christmas is of course the pre-eminent time when you want to be together with your loved ones or your family, but when they are abroad that is not always obvious. Fortunately, there is “Dr. Love’ Robert ten Brink who, together with his editorial team, moves heaven and earth to bring people together. While the regular ‘All You Need is Love’ has been off the air for some time since its first broadcast in 1992, the Christmas special is a regular feature every year. On whichever channel Ten Brink can be seen that year. Much to the happiness of television-watching Netherlands, because the program is still very popular and it certainly does not harm Ten Brink: ‘All You Need’ already earned him a Golden Televizier Ring and a TV Image. The successful TV format turned out to be a source of inspiration for screenwriter Paula van der Oest (known for ‘Zus & Zo’, 2001) and director Will Koopman, the woman behind the success of ‘Gooische Vrouwen’. Together they created an ensemble film in the style of ‘Alles is Liefde’ (2007), which in turn is the Dutch version of the romantic holiday ensemble film of this century: ‘Love, Actually’ (2003).

In ‘All You Need is Love’ (2018) we meet Maarten (Fedja van Huêt), the popular presenter of the television program of the same name. He goes through a very deep valley in his private life, after the death of his wife. Now that the Christmas special of ‘All You Need’ is coming up again, he is fleeing the Netherlands. In the Scottish highlands he hopes to be able to pick himself up again. The only Dutchman he finds here, shepherdess Olivia (Bracha van Doesburgh), has no idea who he is and Maarten finds that wonderfully calm. With his sudden flight to Scotland he saddles his loyal assistant Japie (Rop Verheijen) with a problem. Because the lost producer Olav (Peter-Paul Muller) demands that that Christmas special be made, whether Maarten is there or not. And so Japie can look for a replacement presenter. Meanwhile, popular R&B singer Remy (Jasha Rudge) has been asked to make a guest appearance on the show. He is quite ambitious (‘I don’t do covers’), but a meeting with the tough hotel security officer Boukje (Eva Laurenssen) puts him on the ground. He seems to enjoy just acting ‘normal’ for once.

Limburg amateur conductor Ernst (Frank Lammers) tries to prepare his choir and orchestra for their role during the Christmas special, but his head is elsewhere. When he constantly conducts mysterious conversations at home via his mobile phone and guards it with his life, his wife Daphne (Janni Goslinga) and daughter Lily (Susan Radder), who is struggling with serious heartbreak, suspect that he is having an affair. Sandra (Anniek Pheifer) was once seen in the very first episode of ‘All You Need’, where she was so overwhelmed by the advances of Gerco (Waldemar Torenstra) that she rejected him rather bluntly. Now that her adulterous husband has passed away, she is completely done with love. But then she is approached by Arianne (Malou Gorter), editor of the program, with the question whether she wants to appear in the anniversary broadcast. And then there is the popular Rotterdam Tilly (Trudy Labij), who would love to meet her family in Australia but is confined to her home due to health conditions. Friend Renée (Annet Malherbe) writes a letter to ‘All You Need’, while Tilly has to make do with Moroccan home care worker Hicham (Ilias Addab), whom she looks at with a lot of suspicion. When her precious Ruysdael suddenly appears to be no longer hanging on the wall, it is immediately clear to her that Hicham must be behind it.

The description of the story already shows that ‘All You Need is Love’ leaves us with quite a few characters. The characters are one-dimensional and are easy to label: the over-the-horse rapper, the racist over-65s, the loyal assistant (whom we would love to give a love story of their own!), the worked-up producer, et cetera. It is very transparent that a series of accents (Rotterdam, Limburg, Sallands) is used to make the whole thing more popular. The superficial characters are also stuck with poorly developed and rather predictable storylines. The most layered character seems to be the presenter Maarten, but we can already see from miles away that something beautiful will blossom between him and the Scottish shepherdess. On paper, Sandra’s storyline is also interesting: she has been hurt by her obnoxious husband and he is now suddenly dead. But we’ll never know what that does to her. A missed opportunity, because with more in-depth characters it becomes easier to empathize with them. The emphasis is now on the comedy, which is only occasionally original. A nice find, which is worth mentioning, are the Boukje brothers and their special hairstyles. Also the ‘old’ images of Gerco that Sandra asks out are a bull’s eye.

If you look through that predictability and volatility, typecasting and the forced use of accents, ‘All You Need is Love’ is an unadulterated feel-good film, where a selection of Dutch actors in large and smaller roles parade past. A packed yet light-hearted little thing that is fun for a night at the movies with family and friends, but that – unlike ‘Everything is Love’, the film that ‘All You Need’ would like to focus on – will only linger for a short time .