All Of You Review

To paraphrase AFC Richmond ers – and legions of Ted Lasso fans – “he’s here, he’s there, he’s everywhere.” And, indeed, Brett Goldstein, aka loveable grump Roy Kent, is in serious danger of becoming ubiquitous. Voice acting in The Garfield Movie, stopping off for a quick MCU cameo, producing both series of Shrinking as well as creating the show ….. and, with a new series of Ted Lasso looking increasingly on the cards, the list is seemingly endless. But can he cut it as a romantic lead?

All Of You, which he co-wrote with director William Bridges, actually isn’t the first time we’ve seen him in a softer light. 2016’s charming little British indie, Adult Life Skills, saw him in unassuming mode but longing to win the affection of the unconventional Jodie Whittaker. This time around, in a slightly futuristic setting, his Simon is more assertive – except when it comes to telling Laura (Imogen Poots) how he feels about her. The two live in a time when dating apps have been replaced by Soul Connex, a test that determines a person’s soulmate – for a hefty fee. Laura signs up, but the results don’t point in Simon’s direction and she marries Lukas (Steven Cree), who’s thoroughly nice but a bit boring. In the meantime, Simon gets a new girlfriend Andrea (Zawe Ashton) but it’s clear, as it has been all along, that Laura is the woman he loves. And he doesn’t need a test to tell him. Their long-standing friendship eventually turns into an affair but, as Laura won’t leave her husband, one of them has to make a decision ….

A test to find your soulmate, that emotional holy grail, is a promising set-up for the film. But it has limitations and soon fades into the background, with only the occasional reference to remind us of where the story started. What remains is a nicely presented but familiar “will-they-wont-they?” romance, one that nods in agreement at the When Harry Met Sally theory about men and women’s inability to be friends. The difference here is that a test is the way to find a soulmate, with good old-fashioned chemistry very much in second place, and that Simon and Laura’s affair is inevitably laced with guilt. Their stolen weekends are pure luxurious romance, but while the stop-start nature of their time together comes close to dragging, it’s saved by the film’s structure. There’s nothing smooth about the transitions from scenario to scenario yet, while it initially feels jerky, if not clumsy, it helps prevent our interest from waning.

It’s Goldstein and Poots, however, who give the film genuine heart and prove to be an endearing couple. Goldstein really grasps the nature of heartache, wanting Laura so much that he can’t love anybody else and it tears him apart, while Poots is both sympathetic and enigmatic in her love for two men who are totally decent and completely different – just like the way she feels about them. The two shine in what is, at times, a repetitive look at modern love but which also has a sensitive finger on the pulse when it comes to that line between friendship and something much more.

★★★

Playing as part of the BFI London Film Festival on 10th and 11th October / Brett Goldstein, Imogen Poots, Zawe Ashton, Steven Cree, Jenna Coleman  / Dir: William Bridges