Director Report Card: Peyton Reed (2003)

4. Down with Love

Following the break-out success of “Bring It On,” Peyton Reed was probably offered a number of different scripts. However, the movie he wanted to make next was “Down with Love,” from first-time screenwriters Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake. The project was an extended homage to the “bedroom comedy,” a type of sexless sex comedies that were popular in the early sixties and faded from the public consciousness not long afterwards. I've never actually seen any of these movies, not “Pillow Talk,” not “Lover Come Back,” none of those. So, going into “Down with Love,” I really wasn't sure what to expect from Reed's second theatrical release.

The year is 1962 and the place is New York City. Barbara Novak has written “Down with Love,” a controversial book suggesting women don't need men or romance to be happy. Looking to promote the barely released book – suppressed by the sexiest men running the publishing company – Novak is set up on an interview with Catcher Block, a hot-shot playboy and Pulitzer Prize winning writer. Block repeatedly stands her up, in favor of numerous affairs, to the point where she denounces him on television. After “Down with Love” become a best seller and a cultural phenomenon, Catcher's romantic conquests dry up. He decides to get even with Novak, seducing her while pretending to be Zip Martin, a gentlemanly astronaut who isn't quick to go to bed. Yet Novak might have plans of her own.

If nothing else, “Down with Love” is a triumph of production design. The film engineers an extremely specific look. Each of the costumes were designed from the head-up, the actors wearing elaborate outfits tailored to be eye-catching and colorful. I'm especially fond of a white rain coat and hat combo Novak wears with her best friend in one scene. The sets are equally memorable. Everything in the film is colorful, with most of the rooms being designed in bright blues or other primary colors. The various magazine company offices are a sight to behold, framed in a way that draws the eye. It's clear that a great amount of thought went into every aspect of the movie's look.

While “Bring It On” created an exaggerated fantasy world with its dialogue, “Down with Love” does something similar with its visual presentation. The movie one hundred percent commits to recreating the look of the sixties “bedroom comedy.” It begins with a '60s-style Fox logo and utilizes a bright, Technicolor-style color grading throughout. Cheesy ChromaKey effects are even used when characters are sitting in cars! Numerous split screen sequences are used throughout the various phone calls, the lines breaking up the screens resembling lightning bolts or big pink hearts. There's an absolutely charming montage, devoted to Barbara and “Zip” having a series of dates, seeing various shows and dancing in a club, dissolving together. Day-to-night transitions flick through an elaborate miniature set of the city. Apparently, most of these choices are specific call-backs to various Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies. I may not understand the references but I can appreciate the skill and energy with which they are put together. The result is a movie that is bursting alive with a visual playfulness, enchanting the viewer.

I may not know much about the movies being riffed on here but I do know they are famous for their fast-paced, double entendre laden language. “Down with Love” certainly delivers on that. No more than a few minutes pass between a zippy line of dialogue, usually with a naughty double meaning. For example: Each time Cather delays his interview with Barbara, he describes his latest romantic conquest through a series of obtuse animal references. Or when a discussion about socks is misinterpreted by a secretary in an especially ribald fashion. And that's just a sampling of probably a hundred choices. The movie even employs some visual double entendres. During a phone call, the split screen is used again to display some borderline filthy visual jokes, a bawdy gag the movie embraces fully.

Yet speedy dialogue and naughty suggestions are not the only jokes in “Down with Love.” The movie's goofy streak flows most freely during its moment of physical comedy. Catcher's apartment features a number of then-high tech automatons, which is inevitably unleashed on a pair of unsuspecting by-standers. It's a moment you absolutely see coming but still got a laugh out of me anyway. The movie contains a lot of free form silliness – a helicopter ride, the visual way Catcher comes up with his alter-ego – but the best moment is saved for last. Once again, Reed shows his barely concealed desire to make a musical by wrapping “Down with Love” up with a fantastically upbeat song between Novak and Catcher.

While “Down with Love” is clearly a very silly romantic comedy, there's some serious ideas inside it. The film is set right at the birth of modern feminism. The mere suggestion that a woman can have a successful life without a man – that she can substitute sex with chocolate – sends shock waves through the world.  The men of the world respond to this idea about as well as you'd expect. Novak's publisher attempts to suppress the book's release and greatly resists its eventual blockbuster success. Catcher's entire character arc is motivated by Novak's theory interrupting his stream of constant easy sex, hatching a deeply petty plan of revenge. However, it is interesting that he seemingly turns Barbara's own ideas against her so easily, showing that women can be just as hungry for sex as men. Which seems to freely mix some of the ideas from the various waves of feminism into a clever, switch-a-roo comedy totally in-keeping with what you'd expect from one of the “bedroom comedies.”

But that all changes suddenly at the end of the film's second act. After Novak seemingly uncovers Catcher's deception, she reveals that “Barbara Novak” is an invented persona as well. That she was one of Catcher's many secretaries, pining for him and ultimately rejected. That the movie's entire plot has been a ridiculously convoluted scheme for her to prove a point, the characters anticipating a number of steps far in advance. Soon enough, Catcher realizes that “Barbara” has changed him as well. This plot twist, while maybe a little overly serious, does bring the “bedroom comedy's” politics into the modern age, showing that maybe men should grow up and stop being sexist pigs if they hope to win a woman's affection. Go figure.

“Down with Love” takes place in a cartoon version of the early sixties. While feminism is obviously the main topic on its mind, the movie does a surprisingly good job of fleshing out its version of a specific time and place. Early on, we see a group of anti-nuclear protesters, startled by a car back-firing. Catcher's latest award-winning expose has him uncovering the Nazi scientists NASA has recruited to work on their rocket program, showing the lingering shadow World War II still had on the world. An amusing montage, showing the ripple effects Novak's book has on the world, takes us behind the Iron Curtain in a fun way. There's also a thoroughly cartoonish moment devoted to the Beatnik subculture. All of these little touches are further examples of how well thought-out “Down with Love” is.

While meticulously assembled, a big factor in “Down with Love's” success is its two fantastic lead performances. Renee Zellweger, queen of the rom-coms at the time, is ideally cast as Barbara Novak. She can spit out that fast-paced dialogue with ease, delivering each hyper-verbal punchline with perfect panache. What makes Zellweger especially well suited from the part – aside from the previous rom-com cred she brought to the role – is the undercurrent of frustration and sadness she brings. This comes gushing out during an impressive monologue, largely shot in a long take, where Novak explains the secret sadness that motivated her change.

If Zellweger is good as the quick-tongued Novak, than Ewan McGregor is perfect as the philandering Catcher. First off, McGregor clearly enjoys the pun-filled dialogue, biting into the film's many conversations with glee. Secondly, the part allows him a chance to create two characters essentially. While every step Catcher takes brings him one step closer to bedding one woman or another, Zip Martin is a wholesome country bumpkin that puts God, country, and the respect of others above himself. Yet this role very easily could've been a simple villain. McGregor finds the perfect balance of sleazy and charming, creating a character who is both a believable womanizer but nevertheless entertaining, making the audience ready for his eventual redemption.

The film's primary subplot involves Barbara's editor, Vikki, and Catcher's editor, Peter, forging a romance of their own. These roles also feature some pitch-perfect casting. The uneasy, neurotic Peter is played by a hilariously on-type David Hyde Pierce, whose trademark prissiness has rarely been better used. He's hilarious as the nerdy straight man to McGregor's playboy. Sarah Paulson is also highly amusing as Vicki, getting some equally quick-witted dialogue of her own. The conclusion to this particular subplot – Peter finds his confidence by slightly emulating Catcher's egomaniacal ways, convincing Sarah he's stronger than he appears – feels right out of a sixties film. (Amusingly, Sarah believes Peter to be gay at first. This film was made before both Paulson and Pierce came out of the closest.) The movie also sneaks in a small role for Tony Randall, who appeared in a few of the original “bedroom comedies.”

Much like Peyton Reed's previous movie, “Down with Love” was poised to become a sleeper hit. It opened opposite “The Matrix Reloaded,” hoping to court the female audience perhaps disinterested in a special effects heavy action flick. This strategy did not work exactly as expected, as “Down with Love” ended its box office run with just barely making back its production budget. In retrospect, it should be unsurprising that a homage to an extremely niche and largely forgotten sixties sub-genre did not connect with a wide audience. Critics, however, loved the movie. Even as someone slightly out-of-his-element here, I have to say “Down with Love” is a delight, with a lively script, wonderful performances, and brilliant visuals. [Grade: B+]