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| Down With Love
DVD Review |
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Order this DVD from Amazon.com
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Down
With Love
(Twentieth Century
Fox Home Entertainment)
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| DVD
Release Date:
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October
7, 2003
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Length:
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102 mins.
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| Rated:
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PG-13
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| Format:
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Widescreen (2.35:1)
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Audio:
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English 5.1 Surround, French Dolby Surround, Spanish Dolby
Surround Surround
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| Subtitles:
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English, Spanish, Closed-Captioned
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| Extras:
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Director's
Commentary, 5 Deleted Sceens, "Here's to Love" Music
Video, "Guess My Game" Segment, Lead Actors' Screen
Test, Bloopers, HBO Special, 7 Featurettes
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Do you remember Rock Hudson? Cary Grant?
How about Doris Day or Audrey Hepburn? Even if you don't remember
them, the movie Down with Love will still appeal to you. Picking up
where the 60's left off is director Payton Reed, paying homage to the
romantic comedies that the aforementioned people were famous for.
Movies such as Pillow Talk and Sabrina instantly come to mind when
watching this movie.
The movie centers on two people - Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor) and
Barbara Novak (Renee Zellweger) as the Rock/Day combo in this movie.
While I enjoyed their on screen chemistry, I had one complaint about
Ewan. I don't think he could really step into the shoes of the later
masters of the genre. Sure he had the swagger and the look, but he
didn't have the presence. Kind of like Marky Mark in The Truth about
Charlie, he just couldn't make you forget Cary Grant. (He actually
made you wish for him!) McGregor, did a good job - he just didn't have
the presence. Maybe it's because of his stature. Rock and Grant were
both tall and built. McGregor seems a little diminutive when thinking
about these actors, and in the scenes he took his shirt off, well it
didn't enhance his stature in the film. He was much more believable as
the nerdy NASA astronaut Zip, who just returned from space and has no
idea who Novak is. None the less he still was able to capture the
playboy attitude - the man's man persona which helped sell the rest of
the movie.
Zellweger does a great job as the Doris Day-type character in the
movie. I really can't picture anyone but her in this role. She seems
like she should have been in those movies from the 60's. In Down with
Love she plays a writer who has written a book that is basically a
manual for women not to be taken advantage of by men. It's very women's
lib. This of course is very threatening to the men of this time. So
leave it to Catcher Block, star reporter for KNOW magazine and Playboy
extraordinaire to lead the charge to tear down everything Novak builds
up in her book. Then things return to normal and everyone is happy.
Playing hard to get is a staple theme of any 60's romantic comedy, and
Down with Love is no exception. However they do such a great job of
building up the down with love movement, they have a hard time tearing
it down so our two leads can eventually end up together. They have to
sell out the movement a little. Sure they try to help it save face,
but once Block and Novak get together it contradicts what down with
love really stands for.
One part I didn't like was the expose scene, the standard one where
Novak is about to learn who Zip really is. While the twist that was
put into it was ok, the incredibly long and implausible explanation by
Novak is just too far fetched to even try to believe. Overall, I also
think that they played this movie a little too much over the top,
trying too hard in some points. But, I do think the movie did a great
job of recapturing the look and feel of the 60's, Peyton Reed must
have been a big fan of Rock Hudson and Doris Day. He managed to create
an almost perfect replica of a movie of that era. He had the perfect
music, and great visual effects to show all the places that Block and
Novak were visiting in the city as the sign's flew past them and their
clothes changed. It was a classic scene.
Another great addition, but with a little Austin Powers rip-off was
the split screen scene. A staple of the 60's when two people were
having a telephone conversation. However added to it was a little
risky positioning and action of the actors in the split screen to
suggest something provocative between Block and Novak. I don't think
this one would have got by the censor boards in the 60's.
The Special Features
This actually isn't a bad little DVD package, giving much more than
the standard fare. Peyton Reed gives an insightful look at the movie,
explaining where certain ideas come from, where background clips come
from. Much of the background footage was actually borrowed from movies
from the 60's.
I was a little disappointed in the deleted scenes. Most times there is
usually one or two good scenes that you wonder why they were left out.
But, nothing so special here. It made you wonder why they were
included on the DVD.
I really did enjoy the blooper reel. It was a little longer than most
and it had some really funny moments. David Hyde Pierce seems really
uptight!! He gets so mad when he flubs a line (and does a great job at
catching buttons in his teeth!) The best part was the mock fight
between Ewan and Peyton Reed, it was done up like the old Adam West
Batman TV show with "Sploosh" and "BAM" coloring
up the screen, plus those quirky camera angles, lots of fun.
I think it was a smart move having the duet with Ewan and Renee. After
Moulin Rouge and Chicago these two are naturals at the musical genre.
Why not capitalize on it. The vignettes are nice, short and to the
point. I liked the one on Tony Randall who does a slightly larger
cameo in this movie. The HBO special was pretty good too. It had
better production than the vignettes and was edited together nicely
providing a more complete look at the actors, director and all the
production assistants who put this movie together.
| The
Movie: |
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7/10 |
| The
Extras: |
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8/10 |
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| Recommendation: |
Rent
This One |
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Blair Barbesin - Contributor
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