Rating: Summary: Doris Day and Rock were better! Review: I was disappointed in the film. They basically cloned the plot of "Lover Come Back", with Doris and Rock, and Tony Randall. They changed the details around, Tony, of course, had to play the father instead of the boss, and borrowed some plot lines from other Doris Day films, but the story is basically the same. Renee is miscast--she seems to have only two facial expressions, wooden, and P.O.ed. There seems to be little chemistry between Renee and Ewan. It was nice to see the sets, clothes, and graphics, but it's all been done in other movies, the apartment with gadgets, for example. And realize how far women have come (we used to make coffee for everyone). The twist at the end was ridiculous, so was the ending. Get one of the Doris Day movies instead!
Rating: Summary: its ok Review: witty and sweet i liked this movie, i also liked Ewan McGregor!! LOL
Rating: Summary: Don't bother Review: I had high hopes for the movie, I looked at all the reviews on Amazon's website...so I when I found it on sale at a local store I bought it. I watched the whole movie...to be brutally honest this had to be one of the worst movies I have ever seen (one my worst movies list, it is now #1). Don't bother buying it...if you really MUST see this movie rent it.
Rating: Summary: Where's the preview? Review: I loved this movie and, as a movie, would give it five stars. But I was disappointed that the DVD did not include what is usually a standard special feature, the stylish and amusing trailer for the film, which I had been looking forward to seeing again.
Rating: Summary: One of the must-see comedies in year 2003. Review: Definitely the most best-selling love and sex comedy all over the cities in the world for the year two thousand and three, just like Barbara Novak's book DOWN WITH LOVE did 4 decades ago (except that was fictional and this is not only for women but also men) in the year nineteen sixty-two.Barbara Novak is a newly landed blonde author-bombshell, determined to use her book to take the then devious man's world by storm and make women equal as their countersex, however with a very personal hidden agenda: To become a hugely successful woman under her real identity - a brunnette spinster Nancy Brown formerly worked as a secretary (and secretly fell in love) for the hotshot "KNOWN" man Catcher Block - and set herself apart from any other obedient (or easy) women and make her former journalist boss desire her with yet a disguised decent identity. And we're talking about in a time when, without too much technologies for a communication media, a simple piece of paper work can bring the world's metropolis down to any moral innovation or re-awakening of the sex battle. Renée Zellweger is cute, sweet with a hilariously flirtatious manner that makes you want to burp sometimes. Ewan McGregor is perfectly charming as an English gentleman as he genuinely is in real. Both also create quite a clip for the ending credit with their singing talent. If you enjoy the super-saturated 60s technicolour, backlot-fake New York city street scenes, snazzy apartments among other colourful things on screen with a little campy jokes, you'd be downright happy to take a seat to DOWN WITH LOVE.
Rating: Summary: Down With Love, A Real Pick Me Up Review: This film is an adorable, funny, tongue in cheek recreation of the Doris Day/Rock Hudson/Tony Randall films of the early sixties, complete with pastels, marvelous costumes, great music, and an introduction (for those under 50), to the seemingly benign manner in which women't rights, and desires to be taken seriously, in and out of the workplace, were being introduced to the culture at large. Like Katherine Hepburn's comedies with Spencer Tracy, these films, dressed in the guise of humor, introduced us to women who wanted it all. This film captures the fun and playful sexuality of those films. In a day when films are so loaded with gratuitous sex and violence, this was a delightful and clever romp!
Rating: Summary: Lovingly Down Memory Lane Review: DOWN WITH LOVE is a film I went into with great expectations and one that I really wanted to relish in. It certainly is a unique film in several ways but those unique qualities remain somewhat elusive to properly identify, minor though they are. Outweighing any negativity DOWN WITH LOVE certainly has style. I liked this film and all the nostalgia that it embellishes the screen with. The production design was perfect in every detail making it a great visual treat. That is the film's strength. The only real weakness and one quality that almost defeats the film single handedly is the score by Marc Shiman which is more patronizing than being the homage that the score should have been. However, the period songs are clearly on mark. I enjoyed this film. It brought back many memories of the comedic love movies of that era. The DVD widescreen version is clearly the one to get. After all it was shot in Cinemascope.
Rating: Summary: So Much Fun Review: I really got into this movie from the moment it started. Even the beginning titles had me smiling ear to ear. It's so 60s, so charming, so everything that I'm not used to seeing as a girl born in the 80s. This movie will take you back to the time of the sex comedy, reminiscent of the Doris Day and Rock Hudson films. It's fun, flirty, and just an all around great time. Zellweger is Barbara Novak, a woman who has just completed her first book titled "Down With Love." Her editor, played by the talented Sara Paulson, knows that for people to buy the book they have to do a ton of publicity for it, so she arranges for Barbara to be interviewed by men's magazine writer Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor). However, Catcher avoids her, thinking that she is a "spinster" because she wrote a book titled "Down With Love." The rest of the film is a fun cat and mouse game between the two, with interesting, surprising, and downright funny results. With great performances from the leads, as well as David Hyde Pierce and Sara Paulson, this movie is such a treasure. It has fashion and flair and will no doubt charm the pants off anyone who sees it. McGregor gives a great performance as a ladies man, and as someone who wasn't sure what to think about McGregor, I now have a huge crush on him after seeing this movie. Zellweger is also fantastic, with her little mannerisms that match the music throughout the movie and just her amazing ability to captivate an audience no matter what she's doing. The special features are fun on the DVD as well, with deleted scenes, bloopers, and featurettes. Very nice indeed. We also get a snappy little music number at the end of the film, which is included in the special features. So, see this movie. It's such a great time!!
Rating: Summary: Comedy of Manners Channeling the 60s Review: This is what used to be a called a comedy of manners - a sex comedy. The sex play isn't really worse than the James Bond films or similar films from the sixties with their double entendre and rather obvious word and camera play. Yes, this film is a bit more blatant with it, but it is playful and funny if you like this sort of thing. If you are uncomfortable with this kind of sexual comedy then stay away because you won't like this. But if you go back and really watch the comedies this was modeled on they were just as sexual. However, I cannot understand why people keep comparing this to Doris Day and Rock Hudson. It isn't. It is more like Jack Lemon in "Under the Yum Yum Tree" or with Shirley McCaline in "The Apartment" than anything Day and Hudson did. I thought Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor were quite good and enjoyable. David Hyde Pierce and Sarah Paulson were also terrific as the second couple falling in love (another standard trope of this genre). And seeing Tony Randall on the screen again is always wonderful. Of course, having him here is part of the tribute paid to those sixties films that Randall was in. Don't expect an innocent memory of a film. They were going after the spirit of the age of free love, women's lib, and when people still smoked at work. They did a good job with it. It isn't for everyone's tastes, but I thought it was fun.
Rating: Summary: Wonderfully Retro Review: This movie is a great example of modern retro and incorporation of old film techniques. The soundtrack is top-knotch, the actors are great, and the tongue-in-cheek humor makes this a must see movie!
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