We went to see the new film called DOWN WITH LOVE. This a remake of an old Doris Day and Rock Hudson movie.
Produced by 20th Century Fox.
It was Directed Peyton Reed.
Release on May 16, 2003
The viewing time was about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
This movie was film on the sound stages in Los Angeles.
Rated in Canada: PG-13
The Writers were Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake.
THE STARS:
Ewan McGregor plays Catcher Block.
Renee Zellweger plays Barbara Kvoak.
David Hyde Pierce plays Peter MacMannus, (he owns the Magazine and is Blocks Friend).
Sarah Paulson plays Vikki Hiller, (Barbra’s Editor and Friend).
THE PLOT:
Barbara Novak is the Daughter of a Farmer and works as a Librarian in a small town in Maine.
She wrote a non-fiction book called Down With Love. In the book she writes that she is a liberated Woman who believes in having casual sex, (sex a la carte).
Her self-help book becomes a best seller and she goes to New York City.
Catcher Block is a journalist who writes for Know Magazine. He is a lady’s man and a playboy.
Peter MacMannus tell Catcher he wants him to write an expose of her. Block isn’t to happy that he has to humour a dowdy, spinster from a hick town somewhere in New England. He has a lot of other things to do and doesn’t want this assignment.
When he hears that Barbara is in town he decides he wants to write an Peter insists and Catcher finally agrees. He thinks she will be like all the other Women he has met and she will fall in love with him and then tell him all of her dirty little secrets.
Catcher get’s away from Barbara several times because it’s more important to be with Women who adore him then to interview a prude!
He misses his big opportunity to interview Barbara. Her book has just become rated the best book in the World!
Block decides he wants to interview her but Barbara won’t meet with him.
Barbra has never seen Block so he decides he will pretend to be someone else.
He trades Apartments with his neurotic, prissy and sexually ambiguous Friend, Peter MacMannus, (he just happens to be in love with Vikki Hiller).
Block pretends to be an Astronaut. He uses a Southern drawl and wears dark rimmed glasses, (doesn’t he know an Astronaut wouldn’t wear glasses?).
I almost fell out of my seat when Tony Randall came on the screen!
Was it Tony Randall? Does Catcher get his story? Does Barbara ever find out? To answer these questions you’ll have to see the film!
WHAT I THOUGHT:
Peyton Reed was brilliant when he put us back in the 1960’s. The camera angles were filled with sexual innuendos and he kept the pace of the film going well.
Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake put a new twist to the 1960’s tongue in cheek film. their dialogue was sharp and funny.
Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger made this movie magical. Only Ewan McGregor could change accents from a chic New Yorker, to a southern drawl and then to an English Gentleman.
Sarah Paulson and David Hyde Pierce played their roles very well.
The scenes are larger than life and filled with furniture, clothes and hairstyles from a time before the Women’s Liberation Movement. If you didn’t grown up in the 1950’s or 60’s you might not understand why the set and the cloths are colour co-ordinated. That’s how we dressed way back then and the co-ordinating of the scenes was to emphases how stupid we looked!
THE MUSIC:
Judy Garland sings Down With Love
Frank Sinatra sings Fly Me To The Moon
Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor sing Here’s To Love.
Renee and Ewan sing a duet as the credits begin to roll so don’t rush out of the Theatre when the movie’s over or you’ll miss it.
MY CONCLUSION:
I’m glad I saw this film. In was a nice way to spend an evening.
Was it the best movie in the World? No but it’s good enough to pay the money to see it in a Theatre.
I do recommend it.
Comments are always welcome.
©LL2003