DVD Reviews

Down With Love

They don’t make films like they used to. It is not very often that films these days are like films of the past. Usually films today only pay homage to certain films that were influential on the director or the genre. But then came the film Down With Love, a film that is exactly like the sexually suggestive bedroom comedies of the 1960’s that stared the likes of Rock Hudson and Doris Day. But unlike those bedroom comedies this film has been given a bit of an update so that people today can understand the humour, and was given a twist where the women become the stronger sex. And as a bonus, it stars two of the most popular actors in film, Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor, who both appeared in a popular musical from the past few years.

This musically charged battle of the sexes features Zellweger as Barbara Novak, an author of a book that has been changing the lives of women across the world. McGregor is Catcher Block, a playboy reporter who attempts to expose Novak as a fraud, but may be falling in love with her instead. A romantic comedy with charming, hip dialogue, energetic performances, and more sexual innuendo than you can shake a stick at, Down With Love is a fresh new comedy with a classic comedy flavor and an updated twist. Now the film has made its way onto DVD with one of the most colourful DVD releases this year.

This delightful film gets a delightful release on DVD. The picture is entirely sharp and colourful, but for a bright, colourful film such as this it seems a little dark, which is not horrible but is a little disappointing. The 5.1 Dolby Digital track has a good mix that does not come into full use too often. It is pretty clean, but sometimes the background music, though an integral part of the film was a little bit distracting at times. A fun set of features is offered on the disc. They include a rather extensive commentary from the director, short deleted scenes with commentary, a hilarious gag reel, eight behind-the-scenes featurettes including one from HBO and some test footage, a music video for the song performed by the two stars, a music promo spot, and some extra footage seen in the background in some scenes. No trailer here for you trailer buffs, but that doesn’t matter because these features are a lot of fun and add a considerable amount of insight to the film without being boring.

Down With Love is a clever, hip, jazzy, enchanting ode to the bedroom comedies of the 1960’s with a bit of an update. It is funny, it is romantic, and it is a lot of fun. The humour is a little aged so it may appeal a little more to those that grew up on those movies. But if you give it a chance you might like it. The DVD is equally as colourful and fun as the movie and is a DVD you can have a lot of fun with. The DVD is definitely worth checking out and so is the movie. So fix your hair; break out your tacky, expensive clothing, and start working on suave charm as you check out this DVD. Cheers! Here’s to Down With Love.

Review by Chris Emery