LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED (15, 116 mins) *** Starring Pierce Brosnan, Trine Dyrholm, Sebastian Jessen, Molly Blixt Egelind, Paprika Steen, Kim Bodnia, Christiane Schaumburg-Muller. Director: Susanne Bier

In her recent films, Danish director Bier has meditated on the ability of the human spirit to endure all-consuming grief.

Perhaps hankering for some light relief, she dons her sunglasses and SPF25 for this life-affirming comedy set at an idyllic villa on the breathtaking Sorrentine Peninsula.

Love Is All You Need is an appealingly frothy confection about two damaged souls offered a second chance at happiness when they least expect but most need it.

The script lacks the subtleties and emotional layers of their earlier collaborations, Brothers, After The Wedding and In A Better World.

However, feelgood rom-coms abide by certain hoary conventions and Jensen obliges, including repeated blasts of Dean Martin’s That’s Amore on the soundtrack to accentuate the flirtatious mood.

The literal translation of the film’s Danish title Den Skaldede Frisor is The Bald Hairdresser, and this succinctly sums up heroine Ida (Dyrholm), who has undergone chemotherapy as part of her breast cancer treatment.

Ida returns home from a check-up to find her oafish husband Leif (Bodnia) in flagrante delicto with blonde accountant Tilde (Schaumburg-Muller).

It’s a devastating blow and Ida leaves him to catch a flight to Sorrento, where their daughter Astrid (Egelind) is due to marry her handsome fiance Patrick (Jessen).

In the airport car park, Ida absent-mindedly backs into a car being driven by English widower Philip (Brosnan), who has thrown himself into his work – fruit and vegetable wholesale – following the death of his wife.

It transpires that Philip is Patrick’s father and is also heading to the ceremony.

En route, Ida overhears Philip berating one of his employees on the telephone and she scolds his rudeness: “I really don’t understand why anybody will work for you!”

Her tenderness and honesty are a tonic, kindling a spark of attraction between the strangers.

Personal relationships become strained when Ida’s cheating husband arrives with Tilde in tow.

The wedding conceit and sun-baked locales of the film conjure fond memories of Mamma Mia!, but Love Is All You Need dodges the ABBA songbook while still peddling a winning formula of fizzing dialogue and longing glances.