Down with Love (Full Screen Edition)

Rating:
Summary: DOWN WITH LOVE
Review: "DOWN WITH LOVE", takes us back to the early 60's and tells the story of author Barabara Novak (Zellweger) who gets into the success of her book about her own points of view on love. And at the same time, falls for Catcher Block (McGregor) who tries to convince Novak that she has the same vision about love as other women. David Hyde Pierce and Tony Randall also provide some very good performances here.

I never saw any of the Doris Day movies of the 60's. But I did find this movie and the DVD features to be very cute and very enjoyable. And you too will enjoy "DOWN WITH LOVE".

Rating:
Summary: Kicky
Review: It would be a bit hard to understand why someone would want to remake a Doris Day/Rock Hudson "battle of the sexes" comedy, but when you see DOWN WITH LOVE you realize how much fun it must have been for all concerned. The sets and costumes are marvelous (there are great color schemes), the Marc Shaiman score really swings, and the cast really seems to be having the time of their lives. Renee Zellweger continues to surprise with her versatility, and though she can't get as hilariously angry as Doris Day used to get in the same roles (no one could get mad like Doris Day), she brings a great deal of charm and vulnerability to her part. David Hyde Pierce exactly channels Tony Randall (who is also here in a small and welcome role), and Sarah Poulson uncannily recalls Paula Prentiss and Jane Fonda in their younger and kookier days. Only Ewan McGregor seems miscast: although superb at being a smooth operator, he doesn't have the physical presence nor the fundamental wholesomeness Rock Hudson used to bring to his Lothario parts. As a result, where Hudson used to make you feel he was fundamentally decent when he would inveigle Day with his lies, McGregor just seems like a snake. Fortunately he is redeeemed in the film's closing credits where he gets to sing with that marvelous voice of his. The film was not a popular success in theatrical release, mostly because the recreation of the early Sixties did not seem particularly relevant; it is a tremendous kick in the head, however, and well worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: Highly entertaining!
Review: If you can remember those old "bedroom comedies" - typified by the collaborations between Doris Day and Rock Hudson (Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back and Send Me No Flowers, which are reviewed here) - then you will immediately know what to expect from this film. Barbara Novak (Renée Zellweger) is a debutante novelist,who has created the titular book exhorting women to abstain from falling in love and to take control of their lives in order to find...equality with men (gasp!). Her immediate overnight success brings her into conflict with one Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor) - a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the popular men's magazine Know. He is a ladies man, a man's man and a self-made man. He is James Bond, Hugh Heffner and Simon Templar rolled into one. As the women of the world begin to shake off their servitude to men, Catcher sees it as his role to expose Novak as no more than a love-lorn woman, who just needs the love of a man to make her life truly worthwhile.

The cinematography in this movie is excellent. Very clever split-screen effects, painted canvas backdrops, stock footage and extensive CGI merge seamlessly (other than where intended) to provide a totally credible recreation of the hyper-real CinemaScope world of the early 1960s films. The set and costume design are Oscar-worthy. Every larger-than-life outfit positively leaps from the screen, with the men looking uniformly suave and the ladies frequently stunning in vivid primary colours and outrageous matching coats and hats galore.

The acting is flawless. Zellweger and McGregor are spot-on in the lead roles (and they certainly show plenty of chemistry). The two leads even manage to squeeze an accomplished song and dance routine into the picture - once again acquitting themselves well. They are supported admirably by a wittily cast Tony Randall (who appeared in each of the original Hudson/Day films) and a type-cast David Hyde Pierce (Frasier). The corny dialogue is delivered with verve and the farcical set-ups ooze Sixties style from every single frame. The over-orchestrated (but appropriate) score never lets up, and if you close your eyes, you could believe you are listening to one of the original movies from which this draws inspiration.

However, there is surely a reason "they don't make 'em like this anymore". That reason might be one of the following: the dialogue is corny, the humour is dated or that the basic plot is so unrepresentative of modern living that it just looks contrived. This doesn't make this a bad film, but it does limit its relevance to a modern cinema-going public. This film is in fact extremely well made - the costume and set design is flawless, the colours are magic, the evocation of a previous generation is spot-on. Like The Brady Bunch movies, for me at least, the film serves as nothing more than a technically proficient throwback. I admire the craft of this film tremendously; it is technically wonderful and director Peyton Reed (Bring It On) is to be commended for his attention to detail throughout. Sadly, I didn't actually get that much enjoyment from it...and isn't that what it's all supposed to be about? For fans of the Doris Day and Rock Hudson bedroom comedy genre, this will be a wonderful treat. To the rest of us, it is a curiosity worth applauding for its masterful recreation of the films of the 1960s - but is ultimately unsatisfying. Recommended for Day/Hudson fans and those who wish to see a clever recreation of a passé film genre that passed its expiry date around forty years ago.


Rating:
Summary: 2,4,6,8, who do we really hate?
Review: My god, this movie is the worst thing I have ever seen. the script is awful, the actors are at their worst, the plot's piffle...no, wait, it's not even 'piffle' it's 'piffle light'. it is so cute, that you just can't stand watching it for five minutes. yes, we are talking room-filled-with-bright-pink-teddy-bears cute. the plot, as painful as it, I will tell you: Barbara Novak writes a book called Down with Love, saying that women should focus on their careers and have sex like men do (à la carte). Magazine writer Catcher Block thinks that he can make Barbara fall for him, proving her vulnerable to love. Um, hello? Why would anyone want to become a workaholic and be really unhappy with life? So, you see what I mean. it is pure, unadulterated, garbage.

Rating:
Summary: Get ready for going UP with love!
Review: I absolutely LOVE this movie, it simply doesn't get better than that! Amazing sets, costumes and shoes to die for (oh well I'm a girl!), panoramic and unrealistic (but in the nice way) views of NY and much more. The chemistry between Renee and Ewan is a whole different thing, you can just see sparkles of mutual attraction and affection flying here and there :).
Two regrets that I have though-I will never be able to live in the swinging and fabulous sixties AND I will not be able to get an appartment like that of Barbara Novak. Anyways, I still own the DVD :).

Rating:
Summary: BLASPHEMY!!
Review: Seriously, all blame has to go to the director. From the moment this film was announced a couple of years ago I was thrilled that someone would attempt to recreate the feel of the glorious 50's CinemaScope productions. Even the opening credits feature the classic 'Scope logo! The opening music credits were spot on. This should be a great time, I thought. Well, THAT JUST WASN'T THE CASE. This is a DISASTER and a SLAP IN THE FACE to anyone who was conned into thinking this would have the charm of the past. I do NOT fault Renee or Ewan. I believe that with a competent director, this really could have been screen magic, but no. Instead, we're treated to a MOCKERY of the genre. The Director's Guild of America should REVOKE Peyton Reed's membership for this travesty.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable spoof of 1960's
Review: OK, I'm over age 50 and so I really understood the rich spoof, satire, and parody of 1960's "family movies" with Rock Hudson and Doris Day. The persistent double-entendres throughout demonstrate how sexual content were presented creatively and approvingly at that time rather than offensively with in your face vulgarity, obscenity, and profanity as besets too many movies today. "Down with Love" is a good present for parents and grandparents, but I think even teenagers may appreciate the first class acting, directing, and script albeit from a time capsule. It's a sweet movie and appropriate for the entire family. Rene'e Zellweger and Ewan McGregor do a great job.

Rating:
Summary: Very Intreging-contians spoilers
Review: I found this movie to be very interesting.

Renee Zellweger plays Barbara Novak who wrote a book called Down With Love that does not get very much publicity because she is a woman in the 1960's. She is supposed to meet Catcher Block (ladys man, mans man, man about town) played by Ewan McGregor, but he never shows up because he is to busy entertaining his many female friends.

Several weeks go by and Down With Love is a hit the whole world over and Barbara Novak is famous. Catcher sees her on T.V blasting him as the worst kind of man, so he comes up with a plan to get rid of her. He will pretend to be somebody else so that he can write an exposee saying that the author of Down With Love really just wants what every other woman wants, love and comitment. He pretends to be southern man named Zipp Martin and they went on many dates. The day comes when Catcher thinks that he will have sex with her when things start to go wrong. First he finds out that her name really isn't Barbara Novak, its Nancy Brown and that the reason why she wrote Down with Love was because she was in love with him and wanted to get his attention.

All in all, a very good movie that is very funny

Rating:
Summary: Romatic Comedy with Less Romance, More Homage to the 60s
Review: The film title 'Down with Love' comes from one famous pop song, and as this shows, the colorful film itself is an eye candy full of references to the early 60s. It is a romantic comedy, sure, but the spirit with which the film is made is rather that of tongue-in-cheek comedy for those who know, directly or indiretctly, the good old days of Doris Day and Rock Hudson, or their comedies.

The leads are Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. Renee is a writer Barbara Novak coming to New York City in 1962, where she becomes an instant celebrity when her book, 'Down With Love,' was a bestseller. In that book, she preaches: 'Do have sex; Do not fall in love.' Considering the time, pretty progressive, isn't it?

But one guy, a handsome ladykiller didn't like it. It is Ewan McGregor's Catcher Block, who was officially, and blatantly, and deservedly perhaps, humilated before the public when Barbara revealed a serect or two about him on TV. Now it's time for revenge, but this time Catcher uses his charms to attract her, seduce her, and make her fall in love with her, disguing himself as astronaut from NASA.

So, as you see, the plot is contrived, and going to be more so as it goes on, so I refuse to write about it. THE POINT IS, the film is more an homage to the 60s and its fashions, than a traditional romantic comedy. The name of Novak (meaning Kim?) is one good example, and there are lots of cultural references to the time -- Ed Sullivan Show, the Space Age, the Cuba Crisis, and so on. And many, many, colorful, gorgeous costumes you have seen in Hollywwod films with the name of, say, Edith Head.

So far, the film is clever, or too clever for some. But there is one problem, and that is, THERE IS NO CHEMISTRY between the leading actors. I know Renee Zellweger is a charming actress, and Ewan McGregor is very amiable (though the latter is slightly underrated among critics), but strangely, the love they talk about (and of course, they fell for each other for real) does not sound very real. The sparks between Ewan and Nicole Kidman in 'Moulan ROuge' is nowhere to be seen.

So, see 'Down with Love' not as a romantic comedy; it's more effetive as a delightful homage paid to the era when JFK and Jackie were the talk of the people. As such, it may entertain you.

Rating:
Summary: I sure could go for a Tang!
Review: This was the best. It's quirky and odd; it really helps if you're familiar with the whole Doris Day/Rock Hudson genre. The plot is lifted pretty closely from "Pillow Talk": loathesome playboy impersonates wholesome, genuine type and steals heart of single-and-loving-it career woman who happens to hate the loathesome playboy; mistaken identities and giggles abound. Silly, frothy chick-flick? Kinda. It's fun and very 1960-something.

The leads are delightful to watch. Ewan MacGregor is getting more delish with every film. Yum.