Down with Love

Plot synopsis:
In early 1960s New York City, Barbara Novak arrives in town at Banner House to present her new work, Down with Love, a book the intent of which is to free women from love, teach them to enjoy sex without commitment, and to replace the need for a man with things such as chocolate. Following her rules would, she believes, help to give women a boost in the workplace and in the world in general.
The men who run Banner House refuse to support the book. The only way Vikki Hiller, Barbara's editor, can find to promote the book is for Barbara to meet Catcher Block – a successful writer for the magazine Know and a notorious "ladies' man, man's man, man about town" – but he avoids her repeatedly by postponing their dates until she gets fed up, insults him, and walks out.
Catcher's boss and best friend, Peter MacMannus, and Vikki take a liking to one another. However, their relationship revolves around Barbara and Catcher, and neither is brave enough to express their feelings for the other. Peter feels overshadowed by Catcher's strong personality, and Vikki wants to see emotional commitment in her lover. She even assumes Peter must be gay due to his perceived lack of interest.
Barbara starts promoting her book with Vikki's help, and things take off when they get Judy Garland to sing the song "Down with Love" as a promotion to the book on The Ed Sullivan Show. Sales skyrocket, as housewives and women around the world buy the book and rebel against their men; Catcher now wants to meet Barbara, but now it is she who rejects him.
It all comes to a boiling point when Barbara appears on a national TV show talking about a chapter from the book – "The Worst Kind of Man" – and cites Catcher Block as the perfect example. Subsequently, Catcher's date rejects him, which infuriates him. Catcher swears revenge on Barbara and to undo the damage (as he sees it) done by her book by writing the "exposé of the Century" - he will prove to the world that, deep down, all women are the same, they all want love and marriage. Including Barbara Novak.
He arranges for a casual meeting at a dry cleaner shop, taking advantage of the fact that Barbara has never met or seen him, and he poses as an astronaut, Major Zip Martin, attentive and polite. Barbara appears to be immediately infatuated with this man who seemingly has no idea who she is, in contrast to men who now avoid her, viewing her as the enemy since the publication of her book.
"Zip" takes her to the most fashionable locations in New York while maintaining considerable sexual tension between them by feigning naivete and a desire to remain chaste until he is "ready" for a physical relationship. But he starts falling for her, and it gets harder to go through with his plan.
When Barbara finds Catcher/Zip at a party he is almost caught out, and decides it is time to take everything to the next level: he tells Barbara that Catcher Block wants to interview him for an exposé on the NASA space program and asks her to accompany him. It is his own apartment, and he sets everything up to record her saying she loves him. But then it is she who reveals the truth: she knew he was really Catcher from the beginning, but she also lied as she is not Barbara Novak but Nancy Brown, once one of Catcher's many secretaries, who fell in love with him while working at Know, but who turned him down when he asked her out because she did not want to be just another one in his long list of romances.
She tells him she did this to be different from all the women he knew, and make him love her. They both realize that Catcher does love her, but as he is proposing, one of his many lovers appears and thanks Barbara for what she has done for womankind. Barbara realizes that she does not want love or him as she has become a real "down with love" girl. Vikki and Peter's relationship also changes when she insults him for helping Catcher. Peter realizes he is indeed like any other man and takes Vikki to Catcher's apartment to take things to the next level.
Days later, Catcher is completely depressed; all his efforts to win Barbara back have failed. Even his exposé is ruined now that Barbara has told her story in her own magazine, Now. Peter is also depressed as his relationship with Vikki is now apparently based only on sex. Catcher realizes he can do something and writes a new exposé "How Falling In Love With Barbara Novak Made Me A New Man". He learns there is an opening at Now and goes for an interview with her. There, he tells her how much she changed him, and it is obvious she wants him but turns him down anyway; he says he wished there could be a middle ground for them "somewhere between a blonde and a brunette", referring to her real persona, where she was a brunette.
As he is leaving her office, he realizes she is not coming after him, but she surprises him on the elevator, showing him a bright red hair style: she has found the middle ground and she wants to be with him. They fly to Vegas to get married, influencing Vikki and Peter, who also decide to get married. Their marriage results in a new book intended to end the battle of the sexes, with the pair ultimately singing "Here's To Love."

Tags: revenge

Review:
The set, costumes, production design and cinematography were also outstanding in this movie, evoking the brashly-coloured, kitsch, fluffy-light ambiance which pervades the early 1960s New York screwball romance movie genre, but the snippy script and slick direction removed this pastiche away from its potential as mere enchanting, screwball fable to a witty, post-feminist send-up of this Hudson/Day romcom genre - and indeed, the battle of the sexes.
Womanizer Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor) is determined to prove her wrong.This is many things--an affectionate remake of those silly Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies; a sweet sendup of them at the same time; a perfect example of 1960s sex comedies with a 2000s twist; a huge barrel of laughs for film buffs with its perfect remake of a 1960s film and an examination of sexual mores and stereotypes of the 1960s.The movie look like a Day/Hudson movie right down to the fashions Zellweger wears, the VERY colorful sets, the obviously painted backdrops from penthouse apartments and the crappy back projection in cars.
The movie even opens with the old Cinemascope logo used in films of that era!The cast is right on target--Zellweger and McGregor give their all to the performances--they wink at the audience all the time...but not TOO much.
After the first few minutes, I began to tire of this homage mentality, but the story quickly sucked me in, thanks in great part to the blissfully neurotic performance of David Hyde Pierce as the friend/boss of Catcher Block (McGregor).
He, coincidentally enough, was the friend/boss to Rock Hudson in "Pillow Talk" from 1959.The chemistry between McGregor and Zellweger heated up the screen in a sweet, old-fashioned way.
That level is cranked up a few notches higher (in that same sweet fashion) than Doris Day or Rock Hudson would have ever dared; a particular example is the priceless "split-screen" telephone conversation between the leads, taken to a level above, below, and to the side-like of any ever seen on screen before.Also of great note is Zellweger's scene that includes the longest bit of unedited exposition I've had the opportunity to see on film (one-shot, no cuts at all).
The next shot of Catch must have mirrored the expression of the entire audience at that particular moment!Anyone planning to see this film might find it amusing to first watch movies like "Pillow Talk" to get a feel for the kind of film that is being emulated here.
Make sure to stick around for the final credits as well.....if you loved McGregor in "Moulin Rouge" and Zellweger in "Chicago", you will adore the vocal stylings of both at the end of this oh-so-cute movie!.
DOWN WITH LOVE, director Peyton Reed's homage/spoof of the Doris Day/Rock Hudson sex comedies of the early 60s, is a delightful bit of fluff in a movie season filled with inferior sequels and overwrought epics.
Dazzling to watch, with Givenchy-inspired costumes (if Daniel Orlandi does not receive an Oscar for his work, his peers should turn in their Designer cards), wonderfully over-the-top sets (EVERYBODY in those 60s films lived in apartments you could land airplanes in), and a 'More 1963 New York than 1963 New York' look (created on the studio back lot, with ample support from CGI), the film would deserve a viewing even if the cast never uttered a line of dialog!Fortunately, the script, by Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake, is wickedly funny, full of the politically incorrect double entendres that were as close as Hollywood could get to actual 'naughtiness', 30 years ago (and, yes, there are more than a few present that WOULD have been censored, even then).
The story, of a woman who writes a best-selling 'self-help' book eschewing the necessity of men for any more than 'casual sex', and the 'Hugh Hefner'-like writer who turns his prodigious charms to work, in the guise of a naive astronaut, to win her love, and thus discredit her theories, would have fit Doris Day and Rock Hudson to a 'T'.
While Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor lack their role models' charisma, they have a pleasant chemistry together, and the 'split-screen' phone call scenes between the pair are even racier than the Day/Hudson 60s versions.If the leads seem a bit bland, the supporting cast more than makes up for any shortcomings.
I am so glad that they made this film, for those of us who miss this type of lighthearted, uplifting, classy work of days gone by -- not to mention being able to see Ewan and Renee in some real quality signing and dancing!
It's supposed to be "Pillow Talk", but Renee Zellweger isn't much of a latter-day Doris Day; she isn't cast right, or directed right, and her inflections and expressions are so questionable that when Ewan McGregor kisses and holds her, you have no idea what she's feeling.
"Down with Love,' as everyone has heard by this time, is an attempt to recreate the time period, look and feel of the 1959 Doris Day-Rock Hudson comedy `Pillow Talk' and other 50's-60's romantic comedies like it.
But I have a feeling that the screenwriters, Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake, never actually saw the original, which was a hundred times smarter, funnier and more sophisticated than their uninspired efforts to lampoon it.As the script would have it, women were still unenlightened when Barbara Novak comes to New York to promote her new book `Down with Love,' arguing for sexual equality in the bedroom as well as the boardroom.
Renee Zellweger, with her adorably scrinched-up face and perpetual pout, is Barbara, and Ewan McGregor, while a bit scrawny for the Rock Hudson part, is suave and charming as Catcher.
They are great, and so is the candy-colored decor and the kicky 60's clothes, but the film is a dud, because it never decides what attitude to take toward the material-or even what era it's mocking.While much of the film's plot derives from 1959's `Pillow Talk,' the plot device of Barbara's proto-feminist book is very similar to the 1964 comedy with Natalie Wood, `Sex and the Single Girl.' (Neatly splitting the time difference, `Down with Love' is set in 1962).
Ah, but real sexiness lies in the art of suggestion -- and true sophistication is trusting your audience to get the joke without thinking you have to whack them over the head with it.Few screen pairings were ever as funny and sexy as Doris Day and Rock Hudson, and you really couldn't expect that here, with the script working totally against the performers.
Excellent support is given to the two leads from Sarah Paulson, who does fine, and David Hyde Pierce, whom you might remember from some boring American TV rubbish.The film is a lot of fun throughout, and despite the fact that it's in colour and stars modern day actors; it does manage to capture some of the atmosphere of the screwball classics of the fifties and early sixties.
It was after watching this poor tribute to a bygone era that I made a point of seeing 'Pillow Talk' again after 50 years for this Hudson/Day comedy classic is what was probably uppermost in the mind of the director when he embarked on this project.
For the most part the humour of 'Love' was cringing as were the almost obligatory sexual connotations that every modern attempt at comedy seems to think it must have to be funny.Such references were not necessary in 'Pillow '( nor were they permitted) to obtain a laugh such were the engaging personalities of Day and Hudson.
If the audience new the inside joke from the beginning I believe it would have been funnier throughout the movie as we would know what each character knows but the other doesn't.The sets where generally great (except as noted below) and David Hyde Pierce was a standout as an actor who understands comedic acting and timing, unfortunately Ms. Zellweger and Mr. McGregor (two actors I admire) don't and must rely on good directing, this is where I place the blame on Mr. Reed.
I am a fan of classic movies and I LOVED the Doris Day/Rock Hudson films.
If you long for the feel of those great early 60s romantic comedies, go watch "Pillow Talk" or "Lover Come Back" because "Down With Love" doesn't even come close..
Only now, he's starting to pay for his playboy lifestyle, thanks to Barbara's book, and plots to disprove her ideology by doing the same thing Rock Hudson did to get into Doris Day's bed in Pillow Talk(1959) -- pretending to be someone he isn't.
Since this movie was made, the actor has come out, though that's irrelevant because he can still play a character who claims to be straight.Ewan McGregor does a great job too.
I won't spoil it for you, but let me just say that it is the most hilarious use of a split-screen I have ever seen.The film also stars Renée Zellweger (Chicago) and Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge).
It's both a parody and a love letter to those romantic comedies of the mid-century Hollywood where men and women had clearly defined roles, every background was painted, the cars were driven by madly spinning the wheel from one side to the other even though the road was perfectly straight and every single line was delivered with a suave and cocky grin on one's face.And as far as parodies or even movies in general go, this isn't a bad example.
There's a real contempt for the material, and absolutely no attempt to make the characters anything more than cardboard cutouts.Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor labor to bring life to their thin characters, and whatever charm and humor the film has rests on their hard work.
Renee Zwelleger says "Down with Love" in this 2003 homage to the Rock-Hudson-Doris Day films of the 1960s.
The film, directed by Peyton Reed, also stars Ewan McGregor, Sarah Paulson, David Hyde-Pierce, and Tony Randall."Down with Love" is actually a combination of the Rock/Doris movies and the sex comedies of the '60s, though a little randier in its amusing use of the split screen.The story concerns a best-selling writer Barbara Novak (Zwelleger) who espouses sex for pleasure and not love, and the playboy magazine journalist Catch Blocker (McGregor) who wants to expose her as a fraud.
Placing Ewan McGregor in the Rock Hudson roll was a masterstroke of miscasting, lacking everything that epitomized the suave, macho charm that played so well to the virtue of Doris Day. Virtue that was greatly lacking in the script for Renée Zellweger.
Love many of the late 50s and 60s sex romantic comedies, 'Pillow Talk' being a primary example, and can't get enough of those with Doris Day and Rock Hudson which this film clearly was paying homage to.
It is a satire and celebration of the sex romantic comedies from the late 50s and in particular the 60s, being set in 1962, and mostly does a really good job, capturing the fun, kitsch, charm, froth and affectionate nostalgia of the period and the films with incredibly impressive results.
It was nice to see Tony Randall again, but he really deserved much better than a pointless cameo that gave him nothing to do, he might as well have not been in the film at all.However, 'Down With Love' looks great and replicates the look of the late 50s and 60s perfectly, the glorious Technicolor, the super stylish photography, the colourful sets, the kitschy décor, sumptuous costuming, the CinemaScope logo.
The story isn't perfect, but is mainly fun, charming and captures the spirit of the period and films it's satirising and celebrating perfectly and with clear affection.Renee Zellwegger gives a sprightly and likable lead performance and is well matched by a charming, understated and carefree Ewan McGregor in the other lead role.
Ewan MacGregpr is "Catcher Block", a "ladies man, man's man, man about town" who tries evading Renee Zellweger who plays Barbara Novack (Novick?) a "spinster from Maine" who wrote a book saying that women can enjoy sex just as much as men without the trappings of love.
Ewan McGregor being the weakest link in the otherwise excellent acting - he simply seemed unattractive in a weaselly sort of way.The sets and clothing was a delight and truly deserves more recognition for being a film, like the originals, that you can watch again and again.
You really have to know America, and American pop culture, circa 1962, to get how perfectly brilliant this movie is.If you've watched a few Doris Day / Rock Hudson // Doris Day / Cary Grant // Doris Day / Rod Taylor movies, if you have a sense of how cocky and self confident America was in the early sixties, before the Kennedy assassination and the British invasion and riots, when people could drink Martinis and smoke and be imperialists with joyful impunity, you'll get how expertly and lovingly this film sets up that brief, shining moment.It's not just in the broad strokes that this movie gets it right -- Barbara Novak's apartment, that looks just like a Barbie doll house, or the split screen naughtiness, or the references to Ex-Nazis in NASA, but also in tiny details that you might have overlooked had they done them wrong, or not done them at all -- the rear projection in car scenes, the montage of Broadway show titles as Barbara and Zip go out on the town -- even David Hyde Pearce's drop dead perfect imitation of Tony Randall's line reading style.A bubbly spoof like this could have been brittle, but, miraculously, it has real heart.
DOWN WITH LOVE is a lavish, cleverly-written tribute to the comedies made by Doris Day and Rock Hudson during the late 50's and early 60's, most specifically, a nod to their first outing PILLOW TALK, the film which redefined Doris' career and earned her first and only Oscar nomination.
In this smart lampoon of that movie, Renee Zelwegger shines as Barbara Novak, a small town girl who writes a best selling book and gets involved with a playboy writer named Catcher Block (Ewan MacGregor) who keeps avoiding her until he sees her and then pretends to be someone else to romance her.
To really get the whole "Down With Love" experience, it helps to have actually seen a Rock Hudson/Doris Day film.
This is such a loving homage to the uptight virgin/reformed playboy films of the early 1960s, it's hard not to like it.Renee Zellweger squints and pouts her way through the film as Barbara Novak, a Helen Gurley Brown-style writer who urges women to replace sex with chocolate and by the time they've attained level 3, sex with men is take it or leave it and without the strings-attached love.
The plot twists are typical of the usual sex comedy of the period, even the nearly five-minute soliloquy by Zellweger done in breathy Doris Day style near the end that sums up the whole movie and seems to have been done with no cuts (bravo, Renee!) Tony Randall himself has a cameo as TB, the head of the publishing house for "Down With Love." (It's interesting to note that Randall always had the vaguely homosexual role whereas Hudson played manly in every movie, when in real life Randall was straight and Hudson gay.
The endless barrage of 1960's cinematic clichés, sly asides and insider jokes make this movie hard to watch at points, but McGregor, Zellweger, Hyde Pierce and Paulson are all immensely likable characters.
While the film is clearly modeled after all those Rock Hudson/Doris Day movies, Zellweger is much too Gidgety.
I grew up with films and TV shows of the 50's and 60's, so I have a soft spot for the Rock Hudson/Doris Day sex comedies.
Down with Love spent so much time and money and effort on getting the look of the film right that they neglected the intangibles: the sensibility, the nuance, the underplay, the sexiness, the hinting, the winking and instead used slightly tamer version of Something about Mary concepts which resulted in a movie that couldn't figure out what it wanted to be, late 50s/early 60 sexy romantic comedy or 90s/21st century cruder/lewder adult satire.
Down with Love is overly cute.I am not as taken by the self-conscious referential reverence for the "Pillow Talk" genre as some reviewers and thought that Ewan McGregor was miscast as the romantic male lead.David Hyde Pierce and Sarah Paulson are excellent as the second leads.
"Down with Love" is a spoof of the Doris Day/Rock Hudson films.
In the movie, Ewan McGregor plays Catcher Block, ladies man extraordinaire and hot shot exposé writer for the men's magazine, No. Renée plays a Barbara Novak, an author who pens the feminist manifesto, Down with Love.
Down with Love then delivers an unseen surprise that brings down Catcher's whole philosophy on romance.This flick is a parody of the 1950s romantic-sex comedies made famous by Rock Hudson and Doris Day, and it plays the parody to the hilt complete with ridiculous double entendres and amusingly-corny sight gags.
I am personally not very familiar with the Doris Day/ Rock Hudson sex comedies, but still got a kick out of viewing this movie, mostly due to Renee Zellweger Ewan McGregor's charming personalities.
Substitute Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger for Rock Hudson and Doris Day, sprinkle in David Hyde Pierce for Tony Randall and voilà!
I couldn't help but make comparisons to the Doris Day films that Down with Love parodies throughout the movie.
Down With Love is a homage and in a lesser a way, a parody of the Doris Day, Rock Hudson movies of the 60s, with some decidedly modern twists.
Anyway, enough griping, this movie is very funny, also thanks in large part to Sarah Paulson and David Hyde Pierce, and up-lifting, colourful and a heart-felt homage to Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall and the wonderful films of the late 50's and early 60's.