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Down with Love
Review by Jane Robertson (Jane's bio)
Directed by Peyton Reed
Written by Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake
Renee Zellweger . . . Barbara Novak
Ewan McGregor . . . Catcher Block
David Hyde Pierce . . . Peter MacMannus
Tony Randall . . . Theodore Banner
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sexual humor and dialogue.
They're back! Er, no, guess not. At second glance it's Renee Zellweger (Chicago, Bridget Jones's Diary) and Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge, recent Star Wars episodes). Still, she's almost as perky as Doris and does an uncanny job of mimicking Day's mannerisms. And he's almost as suave as Hudson, though a true fan might regret the absence of the Rock-like shoulders. However, this new pairing will do quite nicely.
If you loved the Day/ Hudson movies . . . you may hate this delightful effort to replicate them. The problem is, it succeeds so very well. The sets are just as elaborate and light-drenched, the costumes just as elaborate and color-drenched. The plot, just as predictably, has man-in-disguise (McGregor) meeting woman-in-denial (Zellweger), and of course the sparks fly just as high as they did forty years ago. There's the obligatory secondary romance, this time involving David Hyde Pierce, not Tony Randall. And for nostalgia's sake, Randall himself shows up, these days as a CEO.
So, yes, this film looks, smells, and tastes of the sixties, and it's a friendly re-creation, not a mocking one. But the experience of watching it is bittersweet. We're looking back, from the perspective of a new millennium, at a culture about to die. Kennedy is in office; the news about Nixon is his California concession, not his resignation; and Vietnam is nothing but a low-pitched rumble in the distance.
Mostly, though, we're there to have fun. Since we're twoscore years further on now, the writers, Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake (Legally Blonde 2, some of “The Nanny”) can't resist updating things a bit from those old romantic comedies. The plot is a little more twisted, and the visual innuendo is a little more explicit. For instance, there's one split-screen sequence that surpasses in suggestiveness—and cleverness—any of Doris and Rock's pillow talk and equals Meg Ryan's restaurant scene in When Harry Met Sally.
Fortunately, that's not the movie's only clever moment. Overall, it's pure pleasure. Director Peyton Reed got everything he needed to from his talented cast and in the process surely upped his prestige from where his previous efforts had notched it (The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Bring It On).
If your memory goes back as far as Doris and Rock, then you can probably judge in advance whether this movie is suitable for you as a Christian or for those you advise. If not, then be aware that the PG-13 rating does reflect sexual humor and dialogue. The good news is that nobody's clothes come off, nobody dies or loses a leg, no fierce animals prey, and no ammo dumps explode. In fact, the characters' ultimate choices carry a clear moral message, if not a specifically Christian one.
Copyright 2003, Jane Robertson. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
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About Jane Robertson: A staff editor for the nature magazine Snowy Egret, Jane has written for various Midwestern periodicals and the Southern Baptist Convention's Ambassador Life. Her book about a Scottish immigrant, Hope Was Worth the Risk, was published in 1995. She contributed to the Dawkins Project's upcoming CeLEBRATIONS: Notes to My Grandfather.
E-mail Jane |
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