Movie review: ‘All’s Faire in Love’ LA Times

By Robert Abele

As romantic comedies go, the low-key “All’s Faire in Love” has a cheeky beggar’s appeal not unlike its setting: the hammy world of Renaissance Faire performers. Into this eccentric playground of role-playing costumers is thrown college football star Will (Owen Benjamin), who must join a motley theater troupe to earn a passing grade.

Though always ready with a snarky comment about the tortured Elizabethan speechifying and past-era nerdiness around him, he becomes smitten with Kate (Christina Ricci), an aspiring actress, and eventually cottons to the idea of joining in — be it jousting, charades or playing peon to the fair’s queen (Ann-Margret) — to win Kate’s love.

While there’s regrettably nothing terribly witty or surprising about any of this as either love story or laugh machine, director Scott Marshall does manage a breezy, good-natured tone toward this oft-mocked cultural phenomenon that allows for eye-rolling and smiling in equal measure. (Just not necessarily guffawing.)

The only grandly comic turn comes from Chris Wylde as a true fool in royal’s clothing, merrily meta-villainous and at times simply lunatic with the period playacting. He’s so mesmerizingly weird that you can practically see him on a 16th century stage, giving Globe Theater patrons a “Twelfth Night” Toby Belch for the ages.

“All’s Faire in Love.” MPAA rating: PG-13 for some sexual content including references. Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes. At selected theaters.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/reviews/la-et-movie-review-alls-faire-love,0,3434698.story