MOVIE - DOWN WITH LOVE - Review Rating $$$$$ $$ (OUT OF 10)

STARRING - Renee Zellweger (Barbara Novak), Ewan McGregor (Catcher Block), David Hyde Pierce (Peter MacMannus), Sarah Paulson (Vikki Hiller) & Tony Randall (Theodore Banner).

DIRECTOR - Peyton Reed (Bring It On & the remake of The Love Bug)

An offbeat love story meant to be a tribute and/or takeoff on the 1960's Rock Hudson/Doris Day movies.

The similarities between Down With Love and How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days are too numerous to list. Luckily, there are some differences. Down With Love is the better of the two films...by a long shot.

The most important difference between the two films is that one of the lovebirds is actually likable. Barbara Novak (Zellweger), the queen of broken hearts, is a classic underdog that the audience can root for. It doesn't hurt that Zellweger gives another pitch-perfect performance.

The script, for Down With Love, is a lot smarter than the feeble story line in How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days. Novak and Catcher Block (McGregor) don't fall in love after an afternoon of playing the card game "bullshit". The smarter script also means that the actors aren't forced to badly overact to try and save the film.

Down in Love also benefits from wholesome, tongue-in-cheek humour and exquisite attention to detail. The producers went to great lengths to accurately recreate the look of the early 1960's.

The 1960's theme, in the final analysis, hurts the film as much as it helps it. The authentic recreation of a bygone era is essential to the believability of movies like Far From Heaven and Catch Me If You Can. However, Down with Love recreates the 60's look not just for the sake of authenticity but for laughs as well. You can only go to the same well so often before it runs dry. Down With Love repeats other jokes throughout the movie as well. The end result is a feeling that the film, which is a relatively modest 94 minutes, has run out of steam long before its actually over.

A related problem with Down With Love is that it waffles between being a tribute and a takeoff on the Doris Day/Rock Hudson films. As far as tributes go, while it may be true to the films it is based on, those films weren't exactly Oscar material. When Down With Love tries to be a takeoff, on the 60's, it comes up short because its humour isn't sharp or satirical enough.

Cupid's arrow misses the bulls eye but hits close enough for Down With Love to earn a halfhearted recommendation.

Running time - 94 minutes

Alternative Reviews:

Roger Ebert's Review

Rotten tomatoes reviews

Peter Travers / Rolling Stone Review

Down With Love Official Web Site

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