Review: ‘All You Need Is Love’ -- and context

Having nothing to do with the Beatles tune, “All You Need Is Love” is a heartfelt if limited documentary portrait of the staff and students of the Good Morning School in the Mae Sot district of Thailand.

Narrated by Sigourney Weaver and executive produced by Suzy Amis Cameron, co-founder of the alternative MUSE School in Santa Monica (and wife of filmmaker James Cameron), the film follows the children of undocumented Burmese refugees living in poverty with no access to state services.

According to the U.S. State Department, about 150,000 Burmese refugees live in nine official camps along the Thai-Burma border. Without schooling, thousands of kids could fall victim to child traffickers and other predators.

But those eager young faces and Weaver’s informed, reassuring tones only go so far in a production that seldom pulls back to reveal a broader sociological scope beyond its few interview subjects.

Director Stuart Cameron (no relation) doesn’t mention, for example, if international advocacy efforts have been made on behalf of the refugees or if any attempt was made to get an official statement from the Thai government for the film.

Good intentions notwithstanding, in the absence of a greater context, “All You Need Is Love” can’t help but feel like an extended public service announcement for MUSE’s global humanitarian efforts.

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“All You Need Is Love.”

MPAA rating: None.

Running time: 1 hour, 18 minutes.

Playing: Burbank Town Center 6.