Down With Love | Review

The right ingredients are there, but somehow the mix doesn’t feel right.

They say some things are better left in the past, but thankfully, not all believe in this theory. With a combined stylistic cinematic treatment added to a narrative layout there seems to be a nouvelle vague as of late with a resurgence of film projects which are inspired by the films from the baby-boomer generation. The visually atmospheric Far From Heaven and the high-tempoCatch Me If You Can are some fine examples of how some directors have decided to dust off the fun aspects of former cinemas and giving it a fresh coat of 21st century paint. Director Peyton Reed of Bring it On fame is attempting to bring about the same fun of the romantic comedies of the late 50’s with a text-book example that is high on art-décor and texturized by snappy performances and a soda-pop story.

Feeling like a big apple version of Jacques Tati’s Mon Oncle, this is a art-deco and very nouveau look at the battle of the sexes, a power struggle of all power struggles that sees the aptly named Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor-Black Hawk Down) a babe magnet by day and a James Bond-like martini drinker ladies man by night who sees his cover blown instead of getting blown by a young big-eyed author girl (Renée Zellweger-Chicago) with a fashion sense. Surprisingly they both have game plans in the world of publishing and the world of love which sees this cat and mouse scenario hyped up to ludicrous levels. As one love pad gymnastics strategy gets foiled by and doesn’t quite measure up to Amber’s trick which is divulged in five-minute static shot of Zellweger in an admission scene that pulls out a final plot twist that comes deep from the bottom of a hat.

With cutesy music rings and bells, the dialogue is packed with sexual innuendoes and spilt screen a la Austin Powers sight gags are funny, but for only a moment since it has been done before in the same kind of way that Hollywood keeps on giving us recycled material of remakes and sequels instead of taking a chance on the loads of original scripts that sit on studio desks. Reed manages to pull off the whole retro-look down to details like blue-screen backgrounds and the subtle look of pictures from that era with swipes and the big band score but instead of a splashy and somewhat fresh vibe Down with Love is a little ditty number that grows increasingly tiresome by the shear plasticity of it all. The art-design and costume design are Oscar worthy and should get some noms, with pastels and art-déco look straight out of a home delivery catalogue from the times. While Zellweger and McGregor seem to have plenty of fun, the characters suffer from being a little being a little too polite in the rules of engagement and etiquette and perhaps a little too one-dimensional. Over-acting makes for characters who come off as either goofy or unappealing and too bad Tony Randall is kept to a minimum.

Cute and whimsical at the core, but the cartoon characters and the romance is way too fluffy for my likes, this is one concept that was perhaps better suited for films back then, today this retrospective approach is a hard sell, and despite my attempts of wanting to like this movie especially with the talents that covered the screen all I could muster was an occasional smile. Down with Love is a nice retro-experiment film between projects, as Peyton Reed is getting ready to take on the big-screen comic book adaptation of the Fantastic Four. In the mean time, check out the a la carte romantic comedy offerings from your local video store instead.

Rating 2 stars