I saw this film just by chance when I attended the FDA Cinema Showcase back in January this year. I had just watched a screening of the big budget Mark Wahlberg thriller Broken City and was followed immediately (with only 5 minutes for a comfort break) by a small Danish movie which tricked me into thinking that this was an English language film called ‘Love Is All You Need’. Even the song playing over the opening credits was Dean Martin’s rendition of ‘That’s Amore’. The penny still didn’t drop as I was enjoying the clever little graphics as the cast names broke up in tiny pieces and was swept away with the wind.

It was only when the film actually started and English subtitles flashed across the bottom of the screen that I realised I’d been duped and it was too late to leave the screening without being seen and ridiculed by my peers. I had to see it through and to be honest, I’m glad I did.

The film opens with an attractive fortysomething blonde Danish woman Ida (Trine Dyrholm) having a medical consultation following chemotherapy treatment. A tad downbeat you might think? It gets worse as she goes back home only to find her husband Leif (Kim Bodnia) having sex on their couch with a work colleague half his age. Ida and Leif were due to go to their daughter’s wedding in Italy but for obvious reasons Ida decides to travel to Sorrento alone.

In another part of Demark we meet widower Philip (Pierce Brosnan) a British businessman running a thriving fruit and vegetable company. Philip is still mourning the loss of his wife who died in a traffic accident a few years ago and is adored by his all Danish staff especially his man hungry Sister-in-Law Benedikte (Paprika Steen). By coincidence Philip is also flying alone to Sorrento for his son’s wedding which is to be held at his lemon grove villa. The couple literally bump into each other at the airport car park and not only take an instant dislike to each other but discover that they are about see a lot more of each other in Sorrento.

Despite some of the serious subject matter this film also has some extremely funny moments in it. The film is well written by award winning screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen and Oscar winning director Susan Bier. It was also very well received at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. Pierce Brosnan seems to get better with age and shows a softer and mature side to his personality. His character doesn’t seem to make any effort to converse in Danish but fortunately the rest of the cast speak perfect English so whenever he is on the screen the conversations are void of any subtitles. I’m not sure if this was just me but the Danish accent sometimes seemed to drift into Scouse. Apparently ‘Scouse’ originally comes from Scandinavia and the Danish word for it is Labskovs. See, you learn something new every day!

Trine Dyrholm who plays Ida is fantastic and really makes the audience care for her character and puts in a very touching and at times humorous performance. Paprika Steen is also very good as Philip’s late wife’s sister Benedikte (I actually thought she was English her accent is so good) who is obsessed with him to the point that she is convinced that he truly returns her love. This is an old fashioned romance and for a change it’s aimed at the intelligent adult market rather than the younger commercial audience.

For me this turned out to be the best movie at the screening. It’s a real ‘Feel-Good’ film nd I can thoroughly recommend it. I would even go as far as to give it Five out of Five stars. And to think I was going to do a runner as well.

In cinemas April 19 / Certificate 15