Down With Love
Cheese. Corn. Fluff. These are three things that come to mind while
watching the mix of spoof and homage in Down With Love, starring Renee
Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. While it might sound negative, it's actually
quite delicious.
The big, bright and beautiful sets of New York are the perfect backdrop for
the story of Barbara Nokvak (Zellweger), who comes to the Big Apple to
publicize her new book, which tells women that they too can have sexual
pleasure and satisfaction without commitment, or that pesky L-word.
According to Barbara, the "Down With Love" approach allows women to focus
on their careers, thus giving them the opportunity to climb the corporate
ladder to success.
Her editor (Sarah Paulson), sets up an interview for her with the city's
playboy, Catcher Block (McGregor), who also happens to write for the top
men's magazine. In an amusing sequence, he stands her up time after time
insisting that they reschedule. Meanwhile, his casual flings are reading
her book, putting a damper in his social life. After he sees a picture of
her in a bookstore window, he decides to pose as astronaut Zip
Martin in order to gather material to write an expose on her, proving that
she too is susceptible to love.
I smiled a lot while watching Down With Love. Goofy and corny, yes, yet
still a fun light-hearted poke at the Doris Day and Rock Hudson comedies
of the 60s. McGregor and Zellweger both pull off an amazing amount of
cheesy dialogue and sexual humor with relatively straight faces. David Hyde
Pierce as Catcher's boss, basically plays the same character he plays on
Fraiser--a clueless about women-fuddy-duddy...but he does it well, and it
works as a perfect contrast for Catcher, who seems to have no problem with
the ladies.
In a film full of mistaken identity and characters in disguise, I was
delighted to be as deceived as they were. Vivid colors and a lot of great
comedic timing make Down With Love work. The two main characters are
picture perfect in a film that just falls short of perfect.
Oh, and they can sing too.
Written by: Laurie Kisner
Reviewers Rating: 8
Reader's Rating: 8.67
Reader's Votes: 12
Added: 22-May-2003
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