All You Need Is Love (2009 TV Movie) User Reviews

Utopian nice story of courage

[fl1 · 8/10 · 18 October 2010]

I've liked this film very much: it's sincere, well acted, touching and funny, and it communicates the right message. The plot is well constructed and not too simple although quite obvious; the characters are developed well. Hans is very cute, which doesn't harm.

I just wonder if it's realistic. Previous reviewer Monkey_Finger is right, there are no stereotypes and the initial reaction of the town is realistic; but then there is an happy ending which obviously makes you happy, but is perhaps excessive. The doctor is very correct about homosexuality, but are real Bavarian doctors so modern? Then Katharina is lucky again, she visits a lesbian dance hall and she discovers it's a normal thing. And then everything goes fine: Katharina finds the courage to stand for her son because he is the most important thing in her life and she wants him to be happy; Christian finds out that his son is more important than his career and Vera; to avoid losing their son, he dumps Vera and reconciles with Katharina, finding the courage to say things he had never been able to say; Rosi understands that she wants Hans to be happy, as well; and finally looks like everyone in the village, or at least the whole church choir and all Hans' friends, do the same: and Hans has his idyllic wedding. So Hans, who doubted to be able to convince the whole village of his love, eventually achieves much more than that.

I like this theme of the sudden coming out of a boy in love (and against the will of the partner) who wants his family to immediately support him. It's interesting to compare "Juste une question d'amour", where the ending is very different. Perhaps "Juste une question d'amour" is more realistic, or that part of France is more conservative, or things have improved in the last 9 years, or Hans is right and if you have never had the courage to come out to your family you should instead take your chance when you're in the right mood and come out to the whole world, so that your family reputation is "ruined" anyway (as Katharina's day life was destroyed) and they have to support you to regain dignity and to avoid losing their son.

I give it a 8 because it isn't a revolutionary film and there are films which make me cry or stimulate stronger feelings, but it's definitely worth watching (even more than once).

A great film

[Winchester_United · 10/10 · 4 October 2010]

First off, I'd like to say that I'm not voting 10/10 not because I think it's the best film of all time. It's because it's one of the few gay themed films I've seen that wasn't a major production like Broke Back Mountain, that is actually decent and is a film that I'll probably watch again.

Everything about the movie is believable and like-able. The gay characters are not just a walking collection of stereotypes, and the actors do their job well enough that you actually believe the characters love each-other.

The reaction of the parents and the townsfolk exactly what you might expect from small mountain town in Bavaria, which is a nice change in setting for a gay themed film which would usually take place in a city with lots of clubs.

Asides the drama, the film is filled with some great humor and is really more of a romantic comedy than a drama. But if you're going to try and find this online, because you didn't buy a copy,beware, because if you don't understand German and need subtitles, there are several online versions floating around with inaccurate subtitles, in which much of the humor is lost, and even some elements of the plot become lost as well.

Practically Perfect in every way

[phoenixfyrs · 9/10 · 27 May 2012]

I like the characters especially and the fact that they look and remind you of real people you might actually have known at one point in your life. The gay couple are good looking but still guys you might know. The movie made me laugh it's witty and a bit sarcastic. (You'll notice it right off the bat when the guy wearing the shirt that says "Brain Power" get's his new bong in the mail) The plot is great you can actually see it happening, "Hey Mom, I'm getting married, to a doctor, oops forgot to mention I'm gay and he's is too". The movie happens in a wonderful little town that time forgot in the middle of the German Alps. The sound track is modern and eclectic (starts off with Valerie by Amy Winehouse and even has Lily Allen doing "Don't get me wrong" a Pretenders cover she nails). There is even a very satisfying punch.

Embarrassing in terms of story-telling

[Horst_In_Translation · 2/10 · 29 May 2017]

"All You Need is Love" also known as "my daughter-in-law is a man) is a German movie from 2009. It is a small-screen release and runs like most other television films here in Germany for pretty much exactly 1.5 hours. This is not by ARD or ZDF, but by Sat 1 and if you know a bit about German television, then this means you can expect the worst. After all, they are the ones who brought us the Wanderhure films. But the subject here is entirely different. Namely the film is about a young man who comes to town to have a wedding. Only problem is that he is engaged to another man and nobody, including his family, knows about his homosexuality. This is already where the lack of realism starts. It is pretty nonsense to believe he would have talked with nobody in his family about it before, especially as the film tries to sell us the young man as intelligent and likable. Just like his family. They are the ones (especially the mother) who are only afraid of the consequences because of what everybody in the village is gonna think, not because they are homophobes themselves.

The consequence is also a conflict between the two men in love obviously, but even if they are in the center of it all, this film revolves surprisingly little around them for the most part. It is much more about the village people. Saskia Vester, who looks like a German Martha Plimpton, was shockingly bad at times in her overacting and inability to truly deliver emotion or comedy. But the writing sure didn't help. It was pretty bad how there were zero shades basically in this film. Either they were likable goofs or homophobe antagonists. Add to that Jenny Elvers and you know what to expect here. Admittedly, Vester was probably even worse than Elvers with all her screen time. Also to give specific examples on when this film was at its worst, you can take the random rambling about mail early on in this film and very late. Besides the performance of the music title in the film's title at the very end was extremely unbearable. The version as well as the performance. I will admit that at times this film put a smile on my lips, but 2 or 3 occasions for a 90-minute movie just isn't enough at all. I am talking about the scene where the gay man's dad wants to take his son to a brothel and how the son says wonders what the father's idea was. that he would **** away his homosexuality. So yeah I even think that the acting and line delivery by some characters wasn't a failure really, but they just struggled also with the weak material they had. Final side-note: The mother's best friend did a solid job too with what she had. But this does not save the film from being a stereotypical piece of evidence how to not write a dramedy. I suggest you stay far far away. And honestly, I can only shake my head at people giving this a perfect 10/10. Imagine your 3 favorite films of all time and then compare them to this one here. You get the picture I'm sure. Watch something else for your own sake.

A charming love story in the good old Bayern

[Swissangel4616 · 10/10 · 16 June 2012]

I missed the movie the first time on TV (on SAT1) but saw it shortly because I like very much handsome actor Manuel Witting (which comes from the famous Austrian actor Dynasty Hörbiger) who's playing Nikki.

I must say, this movie was funny and very charming and lives totally with their actors: Saskia Vester, Jürgen Tonkel and you may don't believe it: Jenny Elvers-Elbertzhagen who I call more a IT-girl than a actress. But she did really a great job here.

The story is playing in "Bayern", which is catholic are and conservative. The truth is, at this time when the movie was made, in 2009 it was already allowed for gay people to marry in Bayern.

The acting is great. It was funny but not overloaded or made into slapstick. Its a romantic, funny and heartbreaking Love Story. Specially then in the final scene when actress/comedian Franziska Traub is singing "All You need is love" together with the citizen of village.

Franziska Traub is a "Geheimtip" in this movie.

Fazit: very well and charming made!! And I guess there is a question: Is Manuel Witting gay or not? Answer: NO! He's just a great actor and is married in the real life and has a child!