Film reviews

Down With Love, Dir: Peyton Reed - Cert: 12a

Travel back in time to New York in 1962. A time when men were men & women - well they stayed home to raise the kids.

With the arrival of Barbara Novak (Zellweger), for the publication of her feminist book “Down With Love” the status quo is turned on its head & ace journalist Catcher Block (McGregor) sets out to prove she is no different to any other 60’s woman, secretly desiring the hubby, kids and a house in the suburbs.

From its opening title sequence reminiscent of The Pink Panther this film sets out to pay homage to all things 60’s, from the humour to the mincing walks. Occasionally this grates as a poor parody of an Austin Powers movie, whilst at others it excels with its visual style and jazz soundtrack.

The casting of Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor in the lead roles works well, as does the supporting pairing of David Hyde Pierce and Sarah Paulson as editors and antithesis of their respective star writers. All four characters are well performed with a share of the comedic moments and no one actor/character upstaging the others.

At 1hr 40m there are times when the pace slows to a crawl, however just before the story starts to drag it picks up with either some witty dialogue, clever visuals or a combination of both wrapped up with masses of innuendo which, had this been filmed in the 60’s, would probably had the censor behaving like a demented Edward Scissorhands. A couple of twists sneak in at the end to add an additional 10 minutes of interest just as things appear to have been wrapped up and its worth hanging around for the closing credits too.

As a film for a girls night out, and judging by the reactions of those who were in the same screening as myself, 8/10. (7/10 for the male viewers ).

K Soze

Odeon Online