‘Down With Love’ takes movie viewers on trip to 1960s
The trick to enjoying “Down With Love” is to pretend you’re watching it through the eyes of Mike Myers’ Austin Powers. Like Powers, the main characters in the PG-13 picture are throwbacks to the swinging 1960s and ooze with a not-so-wholesome sexuality that generates heat and hilarity.
During “Down With Love,” director Peyton Reed (“Bring It On”) paints the screen with glowing pastel colors, ones that combined with the stylized fashions provide an eye-popping viewing experience.
The story satirizes the handsome-hunk/pretty-virgin plots from Rock Hudson/Doris Day hits from four decades ago such as “Pillow Talk,” “Send Me No Flowers” and “Lover Come Back” in a tale about “a spinster librarian” named Barbara Novak (Renee Zellweger of “Chicago”) who writes “Down With Love.”
The book promotes the idea of equality for women in the workplace and immediately attracts the wrath of establishment males.
Handsome bachelor Catcher “Catch” Block (Ewan McGregor of “Moulin Rouge”), who pens a column for a men’s magazine and is one of those swingers “who change women as often as they change their shirts,” plots to seduce Novak. That act, he believes, will expose her as a fraud for the revolutionary up-with-women philosophies promoted in her best seller.
The outcome is obvious as the two opposites attract and set off sensual sparks.
But the real fun results from watching the performers and filmmakers spoofing vintage material while still maintaining respect for it.
The well-matched Zellweger and McGregor nicely handle the retro sensibilities required.
They receive support from David Hyde Pierce (TV’s “Frasier”) and Sarah Paulson (“What Women Want”) as Block’s nervous boss and Novak’s dedicated editor, respectively.
Certainly, not everyone will be “Down” with the offbeat “Love.” But those open to its split-screen images, sight gags, double entendres, vibrant fashions and attractive stars should have some colorful fun with a film designed to brighten a spring evening as it reminds viewers of a time when things weren’t quite as innocent as they seemed.
Postscript: Tony Randall enjoys a cameo role in “Down With Love.” His appearance is designed as a tribute to Day and Hudson, with whom he stars in “Lover Come Back,” “Send Me No Flowers” and “Pillow Talk.”
FILM REVIEW
“Down With Love”
Grade: B
Starring: Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, David Hyde Pierce, Sarah Paulson and Tony Randall; written by Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake; produced by Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen; directed by Peyton Reed.
Running Time: 96 minutes.
Parental Guide: PG-13 rating (very strong sexual innuendo).