Based on a true story, “All About Love” signaled an effort by Ann Hui to focus on the issues bisexuals face in Hong Kong (at the time) through an approach, though, that is quite commercial as the movie unfolds as an ensemble romantic comedy/drama.
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Macy is a bisexual solicitor, who is even being shamed by her lesbian friends for her changes in the sex of her partners, while also being pregnant as the storu begins. Soon, she stumbles upon old flame Anita at a pregnancy seminar, with her being in the exact same situation (pregnant and bisexual). The two start bonding again as they narrate to each other how they came to be with child, and soon they rekindle their relationship. What they are doing with their upcoming babies, however, as much as the presence of the “donors”, married man Robert for Macy and teenager Mike for Anita, complicates things.
Despite the overall seriousness of the story and the comments here, Hui chose to implement a lighter approach, which does make the film more entertaining but also strips it from an impact a more dramatic approach could have. In the same fashion, when the movie goes into more serious territory, it truly falters, since the approach here is rather annoyingly on-the-nose, with the characters functioning as mouthpieces. This artificiality definitely harms the narrative, but at the same time, even if in a forced way, does get the messages through.
Where it thrives, however, is in the lighter moments. The re-romance of the two protagonists in particular is quite entertaining to watch, with the sequence with the various stairs in particular being truly adorable. This sequence also provides an “excuse” for the flashbacks showing how the two women got pregnant, with them being ideally placed in the narrative, in a trait that should be attributed to Chan Chi-wai and Eric Kong Chi-leung's editing. The relatively fast pace, that suits the overall aesthetics nicely, cements the overall excellent work in the particular department. Charlie Lam's cinematography is also on a very high level, with the presentation of the various aspects of Hong Kong being both realistic and artful, and the aforementioned sequence being a wonder to look at.
Sandra Ng is exceptional as Macy, highlighting both her vulnerability and her no-nonsense aspect of her character quite convincingly, anchoring the movie in the best way. Vivian Chow as Anita is definitely on a lower level acting-wise, but their antithetical chemistry, also in terms of appearance, does work well. Eddie Cheung as Robert and William Chan as Mike are also quite good in their roles, and their own antithesis, while the fact that their efforts to play a more significant role essentially fail is part of another central comment here.
“All About Love” has its merits, particularly for presenting a very specific part of HK society rarely presented on screen, the entertainment it offers and the acting, but in the end, the issues with the script and the presentation of the comments bring it down significantly. Ann Hui definitely has much better titles in her filmography.
