All of You plus Short Takes on some other cinematic topics
Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke
I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) if they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon. (Note: Anything in bold blue below [some may look near purple] is a link to something more in the review.)
My reviews’ premise: “You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”
(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the song’s name)
However, if you’d like to know more about rationale of my ratings visit this explanatory site.
All of You (William Bridges) rated R 98 min.
Here’s the trailer:
(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size;
activate the same button or use “esc” keyboard key to return to normal.)
If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ (as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy). To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows:
⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.
WHAT HAPPENS: In London, Simon Tavistock (Brett Goldstein) and Laura Sharp (Imogen Poots) have been close friends since their years in college but it’s purely platonic as they’ve never even dated, so when this story begins in the near future she’s decided to go to a dating service where they administer The Test, seemingly guaranteed to link you up with your soulmate (which encompasses all there is in this film that gets it a partial sci-fi designation; primary it’s a romance and a drama). Simon doesn’t encourage her to do this because everyone he knows who’s now found their true love suddenly has no time for former friends, thus he’s concerned she’ll drift out of his life. She participates anyway, gets matched to extremely nice and supportive Lukas (Steven Cree), leading to their marriage and, over the years, a little daughter, Sasha (Alara-Star Khan). For a time, Simon dates Laura’s friend, Andrea (Zawe Ashton), but nothing ever leads to satisfying romance for him. Nevertheless, Laura still finds something lacking in her secure marriage, makes a move to begin an affair with Simon, tries to break it off the next morning yet continues to make herself available to him so the affair goes on regularly for a few years with her always telling Lukas she’s at some conference or other so he never suspects anything. ⇒Ultimately, Simon pushes too far, asking Laura to leave Lukas (and, probably, Sasha); she refuses (but would keep the clandestine affair alive) so he, a journalist, takes a job offer in San Diego, leaving both of them heartbroken.⇐
SO WHAT? I’ll admit I’m a bit at a loss for words (I know what you're thinking: So, when's the earthquake gonna hit? But this time it’ll help me stick to my goal of making these postings more easily digestible from a reader’s standpoint.) regarding this film because even though I appreciated it (“enjoyed” might be a bit extreme given how the plot unfolds) and join with many others in respecting the fine thespian work of Goldstein and Poots, the situation is extremely straightforward. (You can easily sense from the beginning that once Laura got married an affair with Simon was inevitable or else why bother pursuing this narrative at all? Sure, he could have just remained her confidant throughout these passing years—which at times aren’t all that clear from one scene to the next so it’s useful to have Sasha around to help us gauge how far we’ve come from one situation to the next—but that would have been like watching home movies of a family gathering from one timeframe to another where more nothing happens than in a typical NBC TV Seinfeld episode [With the classic conversation stopper; “Not yet!”].) But, of course, we do get the affair—with enough R-rated sex mini-scenes to convince us the passion between these friends-turned-lovers is sincere, despite the trauma it’s also causing for both of them. Simon’s inner complexity is on view almost from the start as we can easily surmise he truly doesn’t want Laura to take The Test because it could reveal someone else than him as Laura’s intended future, but we get to see unexpected complexity in Laura as well (beyond her mixed feelings about enjoying the affair even though there’s nothing missing in her homelife) when she delivers a eulogy for her deceased father, bluntly being honest in front of a churchful of attendees about Dad’s shortcomings. Still, the plotline’s easily recognizable, so that what has to work to sell this film is marvelous acting from the new-found lovers to keep us interested, a situation that effectively delivers what’s needed. Prelude to bottom line: I recommend it.
BOTTOM LINE FINAL COMMENTS: I’m not clear where you can see All of You as Box Office Mojo has no info on it, implying no theatrical release although a search of the title shows me a couple of current venues in my San Francisco Bay area, but your most-likely location is on streaming where it’s available for free for Apple TV+ subscribers ($12.99 if you want to try it for a month). The CCAL encourages viewing, with the Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at a solid 77% and the Metacritic average score at a reasonably-close 68%. I’ll let Maureen Lee Lenker of Entertainment Weekly give you the enthusiastic report: “Apart from the sci-fi element of the soulmate test, it's familiar fodder for romantic drama, but it's of the highest caliber thanks to its sharp script and devastating central performances. The pining, particularly from Goldstein, is palpable and devastating. It's so visceral and painful at times that I felt nauseous from the ways it evokes the exquisite torture of unrealized love. Goldstein and Poots have electric chemistry, the air between them practically shimmering with want any time they share the screen. Their love scenes are genuinely sexy, their taboo nature translating to a high-stakes eroticism for the audience.” Yet, Kimberly Jones, of my long-ago hometown’s The Austin [TX] Chronicle, finds flaws among the successes: “Curiously, where the film starts to leak gas is when the nature of their relationship shifts definitively. That relationship, their connection, suffers from the same lack of specificity as the made-up technology the script hand-waved away. There are grand gestures and lines in the sand drawn that go unexplained and unexplored, and their interactions become airless and indistinct and oppressively heavy. There’s still pleasure in their company: Goldstein, better known for his comic work and coming off a wincing dramatic arc on Shrinking, has limited range but nestles into his sweet spot here, a combination of smirking and sincere, and the underrated Poots is magnetic. The script – witty, anemic – only gestures at her character’s chronic depression, but no matter. Poots bodily fills in the blanks, transforming an underwritten part into a complex, rounded person.” I agree.
So, even from a somewhat-negative perspective in the eyes of some critics, I think you’d find a useful investment of your time in seeing this movie, even if, like me, you’re not fully in league with Ms. Lenker’s joy. As you might debate looking into it, I’ll leave you with my usual ending ploy of a Musical Metaphor, this time again from The Beatles, “I Need You” (on the 1965 soundtrack album, Help!) found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cfM0_ZL1TU&list=RD0cfM0_ZL1TU&start_ radio=1 that echoes Simon’s desperate plea to Laura that he could never love anyone else like he feels for her: “I could never really live without you” (although Laura doesn’t tell Simon she doesn’t want his loving any more, but we’re in metaphor mode, OK?). You know, in that I haven’t been able to conjure up much to say about All of You except I found it sadly enjoyable, why don’t I give you a couple more Metaphors to end things, adding to the Beatles tunes primarily composed by John and George I’ve used so far, with additions from Paul, "Got to Get You Into My Life" (on 1966’s Revolver [even though it's an ode to pot, not a new lover]), and Ringo, "Don't Pass Me By" (on 1968’s The Beatles [the “White Album”], though there's no car crash/hair loss for Laura) so at least you’ll have some fine retro-music to listen to, whether you'll watch a struggling romance story or not.
SHORT TAKES
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