Rent Down with Love (2003)

Awful - Bewitched (old series) wannabe - Down with Love review by CP Customer

OMG - This film was unbelievabley awful. It is the one and only time me and my partner have walked out of a cinema. We managed to sit through the first hour but the cheese on toast of it all just got too much.

Remember bewitiched, the series - I used to like it but bringing the same background music and cheesy acting into modern film is not a good idea. I felt sorry for Renee and Ewan who's talents were wasted on this fim.

For an example - It was lines like "Gosh Catcher" with whoopy background noises that made me cringe!!!

A film which really tries to do something different, but is only somewhat successful - Down with Love review by TB

A film which attempts to send up & satirise the fluffy, soapy films of Rock Hudson & Doris Day, which were known as "no-sex" comedies. Despite the efforts of the cast & also the production values, it hits as much as it misses sadly.

Barbara Novak is a novelist who comes to 1962 New York to sell her book Down with Love, which promotes female emancipation & women not needing men/rejecting relationships. She then hears about Catcher Block, a high-profile writer & known lothario. The two then begin a cat-and-mouse game to try & outwit/one-up each other, whilst trying not to fall in love.

The film very clearly has a particular style & is actively made to send-up & satirise a certain genre of films as well as a certain period in time. But, for me, as much as I loved the look of the film as well as the excellent chemistry & playing-off between McGregor & Zellweger, the rest of it was very hit-and-miss.

As someone who hasn't seen any of the movies this film is satirising, a lot of the jokes didn't land/scenarios didn't make sense (which is also given as the reason why the film financially bombed & only had average reviews.) As a film on its own, there was enough to make watching it relatively OK, but the honest answer was that this film wasn't made for someone like me.

If you are someone who has seen a lot of these films or is of a certain age, there will be massive amounts to enjoy. But as much as it is an unusual watch, it was wasted on me.