A natural born winner

FESTIVAL REVIEWS. Susanne Bier's romance "Love Is All You Need" melts the critics' hearts at Venice and Toronto.

Susanne Bier's "Love Is All You Need" enjoyed its North American premiere Sunday night at the Toronto International Film Festival, following the film's world premiere at Venice Film Festival. Critics find the film predictable, but charming and praise Bier for having the courage to make a light-hearted crowd pleaser after her dense Oscar-winner "In A Better World".

"In her first outing since her Oscar-winning 'In A Better World', Susanne Bier and her co-writer, Anders Thomas Jensen come up with a natural born winner, a romantic comedy that pulls out all the stops, uses all of the genre's classic formulas. With a charmingly debonair Pierce Brosnan in one of the leads and Trine Dyrholm, one of the finest Danish actresses of her generation, opposite him it is certain to become one of the crowd pleasers of the season," writes Screen International's Dan Fainaru. Read review and read Screen International editor Wendy Mitchel's comment Romancing the romcom and Screen's interview with Susanne Bier

"Audiences willing to surrender to Susanne Bier's gently comic romance will find plenty of rewards. …The slick, unapologetically commercial film – which the director’s regular distributor Sony Pictures Classics has for North America – has sweetness, charm and a generosity of spirit that will find many takers," writes The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney. Read review  and read The Hollywood Reporter's interview with Susanne Bier

"Just as the postcard-perfect setting has some chipped plaster and faded paint around its edges, so Bier’s photogenic characters all have their own sadnesses and vulnerabilities to bear. Anders Thomas Jensen’s script, which is just about equal parts English and Danish, is packed with humour that springs from recognisable human foibles, and Brosnan and Dyrholm have fizzingly good chemistry together," writes Robbie Collin of The Telegraph. Read review

"Love Is All You Need" is produced by Sisse Graum Jørgensen and Vibeke Windeløv for Zentropa Entertainments with support from the Danish Film Institute.

The film opened domestically on Thursday and has sold 84,000 tickets in the opening weekend, a box office record for Bier.

TIFF screening schedule