Down with Love (Rental) (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Romantic Comedy	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	97:27
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Peyton Reed
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Renee Zellweger Ewan McGregor Sarah Paulson David Hyde Pierce Rachel Dratch Jack Plotnick Tony Randall John Aylward Warren Munson Matt Ross Michael Ensign Timothy Omundson Jeri Ryan
Case	?
RPI	Rental	Music	Marc Shaiman

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes, more than in an hour of cigarette ads.
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes, a song-and-dance number runs with the credits.

    This film is supposedly an homage to the Doris Day and Rock Hudson "sex" comedies of the fifties and sixties. The story follows two writers - Barbara Novak (Renée Zellweger), author of the woman-empowering book Down With Love, and Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor), superstar journalist for trendy men's magazine Know. Barbara has just arrived in New York City to help with the promotion of her book, and finds that her editor has set up an interview with the widely respected Catcher Block. Unfortunately, every time Barbara is to meet Catcher for an interview, something comes up and he can't make it. Eventually frustrated by numerous rejections, Barbara swears that she will never speak to Catcher in a hundred years, and heads off to find other avenues to promoting her book. They work, and within a few weeks, it is the best selling book in the entire world - and Catcher begins to think that maybe he should have been part of the action. This of course sets the two up to tussle with one another, before they finally realise they are in love - or are they?

    Director Peyton Reed, who brought us the Kirsten Dunst lead cheer-leader flick Bring It On, applies the same kinetic style to this movie, and it works a treat. The film moves along at a cracking pace, and never seems slow, containing plenty of jokes at every turn. As with Bring It On this is most evident in the spectacular set pieces; from the entrances for Renée Zellweger, to the perfectly timed split-screen phone calls, they all lend the film a feeling of being crafted. The best moment in the film is a monologue from Renée Zellweger the lasts for three minutes - one take, one shot, just three minutes straight of talking - the perfect combination of ridiculous dialogue with spot-on delivery make it both hilarious and impressive.

    So are there any downsides to this movie? Well, unfortunately, the off-beat style is unlikely to appeal to a wide audience. You really have to go with the very campy, '60s stylings, and accept the dialogue for what it is. Additionally, while Ewan McGregor delivers a very fine performance here, it is extremely reminiscent of his turn in Moulin Rouge, which some may find annoying. Finally there is David Hyde Pierce - an actor who seems to be one of those love-them-or-hate-them types. In this film his character, Know magazine owner Peter MacMannus, is essentially just a variation on the role he is famous for, that of Niles Crane on TV's Frasier. Those that love his style will immediately find something to enjoy in this film, while those who can't stand him are advised to stay away.

    This film is a definite recommendation as a rental for those who want a comedy that is just a little bit different, although the title will probably fool a number of people looking for a more romantic film (trust me - it's not). Down With Love is, however, good fun and worth a watch for a night's entertainment.

Video

    Presented at 2.40:1, this transfer is 16x9 enhanced. The aspect ratio is interesting, as the theatrical ratio was apparently 2.35:1, so why the DVD release has been trimmed a little at the top and bottom is anyone's guess. Fortunately, the trimming (if any...) has had no effect on the look of the film.

    Sharpness is excellent, and the image contains plenty of fine detail. There is virtually no grain to speak of, making this a very clear transfer. Shadow detail is also excellent, with the night time scenes displaying very good depth. There is no low level noise present.

    Colours are a very important part of this film, as it presents a stylised view of the '60s - mostly dark backgrounds with pastel highlights for clothes and furniture items. The transfer handles these colours superbly, and never gives cause for worry.

    There are no compression or film artefacts present in this transfer. There is quite a large amount of edge enhancement that will be annoying to those with projection displays (it stood out like a sore thumb on my TV), but fortunately it is not a constant presence. There is also some aliasing, such as on the building at 3:12 and most obviously on Catcher's checked jacket from 35:08 onwards (in fact, the aliasing on his jacket is so heavy, it is almost difficult to look at). Most of the occurrences are isolated instances however, so for the most part it is not a problem.

    The subtitles are reasonably accurate without being word for word. The humour is well conveyed, and their pacing is quite good.

    This is a single layered disc and as such does not contain a layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There is one solitary audio track on this disc - the original English dialogue in Dolby Digital 5.1 (at 448 Kbps).

    Dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times. Audio sync is a problem from time to time, such as at 37:15 and 41:06, and will annoy those who are sensitive to it, although the occurrences of bad synching are infrequent enough to not cause too much of a distraction.

    The score is credited to Marc Shaiman, and it is done in the period style (although with modern sensibilities - no swelling violins to be found here). It is a very good score, and helps to both set the mood and drive the film along. There are also a few songs used in this movie (most written specifically for it), and they perfectly fit the action.

    Surround use is very good. There are plenty of ambient noises, and the score makes full use of them. Obviously given the nature of the film, the opportunity for directional surround work is severely limited, keeping more dynamic possibilities out of the equation, but that is not a failing of the surround soundtrack.

    The subwoofer does not receive much use here, and is restricted almost exclusively to backing up the score. Once again however, this is due to the nature of the film, and is not a problem with the soundtrack.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

• Audio commentary with director Peyton Reed
• "TV Specials" - excerpts from the film
• Deleted Scenes
• Wardrobe Tests
• Blooper Reel
• Six "Documentaries"
• HBO Special
• Music promo spot

• Nothing

    The video quality is very good, although an overuse of edge enhancement and a little aliasing prevent it from being as good as it could have been.

    The audio quality is superb, and really shows off the film's excellent score to its full advantage.

    This is a Fox rental disc, so no surprises in there being no extras at all.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall