neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Down With Love
	Peyton Reed Renée Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, David Hyde-Pierce, Sarah Paulson, Tony Randall, Jeri Ryan, Rachel Dratch, Chris Parnell, Dorie Barton 2003		Embracing obvious Hollywood artifice, "Down With Love" — a battle-of-the-sexes comedy — pairs Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor and pays homage to frothy Rock Hudson-Doris Day movies from the early 1960s. Director Peyton Reed's pre-fabricated arty-fact is a post-modern period piece with brightly-hued sets and fashions that recall the '60s. Amazingly, "Down With Love" stays refreshing and amusing for three-quarters of its running time before it peters out. McGregor is macho magazine writer Catcher Block, a Kennedy Era swain who compulsively loves 'em and leaves 'em. But Block hasn't reckoned with proto-feminist writer Barbara Novak (Zellweger) whose best-selling book "Down With Love" sparks a national craze with its philosophy of sex-without-romance for women. When Block tries to seduce Novak for a tell-all article, she isn't the easy mark he expects. The leads lack chemistry, although the jokes still click. David Hyde-Pierce, as Block's fussy boss, gets the most laughs in the film with his inept wooing of Zellweger's brassy editor (Sarah Paulson). A cameo by Tony Randall, often the hero's best friend in vintage comedies of this ilk, is a nice touch.