The 2003 romcom Down with Love
Sometimes a movie just grips you. You can tell within the first 10 minutes it’s about to become one of your new favorites. Every scene, every acting choice, every musical interlude, every surprise makes you love it more. The 2003 romcom Down With Love is one of those films for me. I watched it for the first time a few months ago and haven't stopped thinking about it since. I rarely go into a movie completely blind. I'd never heard of Down with Love before. I didn't know the cast. I didn't even know the premise besides the brief description on the HBO Max page. One of the things I loved right off the bat is that this movie is a VIBE. If you're not enjoying the tone in the first 10 minutes, you won't like it. Director Peyton Reed has a very specific vision and the costumes, music, set design, script and acting are all completely in sync to deliver this well-executed, stylized experience. If you love it, you'll be completely mesmerized. Down with Love acts like a musical without being a musical. The score (from musical legend Marc Shaiman!) perfectly takes you from scene to scene and cues character actions. For example, in one of my favorite moments, the two female leads walk into a series of different restaurants and reveal their ridiculous outfits to a music cue and then sashay their way to the table. Every hand flick and step feels perfectly choreographed. Down with Love fully leans into its musical undertones in a true song and dance sequence at the very end, so be sure to watch through the closing credits! I pressed stop at the end and was met with screams from my brother and his girlfriend to boot it back up because I was going to miss the big musical finish. And I love a big musical finish.
Down with Love is a satire of the Doris Day and Rock Hudson movies of the 60s. Set in 1962, it tells the story of Barbara Novak (Renée Zellweger), who writes a bestselling novel called, you guessed it, Down with Love. In her book, she encourages women to start dating around like men, instead of looking for long-lasting relationships. Journalist Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor) is a known "ladies' man, man's man, man about town." After he blows off Barbara Novak for an interview so he can meet up with various flight attendants, he's taken aback when her book becomes a bestseller and she calls him out on his rude behavior during a TV appearance. He decides to fake his identity and write an expose about her to try and take her down. Ah yes, another stellar portrayal of journalism ethics in the movies. Putting that aside, buckle up for a hijinks and innuendo filled ride! Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor are both in their prime, perfectly nailing the tone of the movie in their performances and clearly having a great time. Apparently adding that end-of-movie musical number was McGregor's idea! In the male best friend role, we've got David Hyde Pierce is doing his David-Hyde-Pierce-thing, which is always delightful but never really anything unexpected. Sarah Paulson delights as the female best friend and sparkles in her first major movie role (she talks all about it in this Vulture article). Down with Love is a must-watch, fun, charming, witty and genuinely surprising take on the Hollywood romcom!
Down with Love is available on HBO Max.
