Review of Down with Love (2003) by Gareth R — 23 Jul 2010

The battle-of-the-sexes comedies of the 1960s get a fond recreation in Down With Love, which is pleasantly nostalgic, if nothing else.

It's the story of man's-man reporter Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor) trying to expose popular feminist Barbara Novak (Renee Zellwegger) as a typically romantic woman, and there are numerous misunderstandings and coy euphemisms. There's also some cleverly wordy dialogue, the direction is buoyant and the performances zesty, but there's absolutely nothing else going on. The movie's too busy focussing on its sense of style to really say anything, and on repeat viewings it just becomes rather annoying, especially during all the nudge-nudge-wink-wink sex talk. Yeah, I got it, guys.

Still, it's all deliberately just-so, and the cast don't put a foot wrong. McGregor sweats charm and David Hyde Pierce is a constant (if typecast) delight as his boss and friend. I'm less keen on Zellwegger as the dinky Novak, but maybe I just don't like Renee Zellwegger.

It's fun, especially the first time, but ultimately it's just ninety minutes of sustained sugar high, and I got tired of it in the end, and on repeat viewings. It's a down-with-love movie all right, preferring chocolate or the thrill of a quick one-nighter to anything real or meaningful - but if you're in the right mood, it should tickle you sufficiently. I just wish the cast and crew had taken all that energy and used it to create something new, rather than just a tongue-in-cheek return to old tongue-in-cheek movies.