Down With Love has drawn many comparisons to the fluffy and irresistibly charming 60's film Pillow Talk starring Doris Day. After watching it, it's easy to see why. This is definitely a throwback to the light-hearted fare of that particular time period. .

This harmless comedy takes place in 1963 New York and features Ewan McGregor as Catcher Block, a womanizing playboy who meets his match in the form of feminist advice columnist Barbara Novak (Renee Zellweger). The set up is
simplistic. Novak has sworn off a certain kind of man (the Block kind). Quite obviously, this intrigues Catcher, so after making a bet with his boss (played by David Hyde Pierce), he sets out to win the affection of Barbara.

Down With Love is certainly one of those movies that grows on you as it moves along. Through the first act or so, I must confess, I was pretty
bored, but then things picked up in the second half. Zellweger really is charming in this picture and she has a kind of old school appeal that perfectly compliments the material. McGregor, on the other hand, is decent but I never entirely bought into him. He's energetic and his timing is perfect, but something just didn't quite work. As I watched McGregor do his thing in Down With Love, I kept envisioning George Clooney in the role. Like Zellweger, Clooney has a yesteryear movie star look that would have been ideal for this film.

What I admired most about Down With Love was it's look. The art direction is picture perfect, and a couple of times the colorful sets reminded me of something out of the Austin Powers movies. I also loved director Peyton Reed's (Bring It On) style. There's a terrific split screen sequence in
this picture that really made me laugh with it's sexual innuendoes. While this particular scene was racier then similar such sequences in the comedies of the 60's, it's still tame enough to keep from being too offensive.

Down With Love sort of does for the 60's romantic, screwball comedy what Far From Heaven did for the 50's melodrama. And while I certainly saw better comedies in 2003, I enjoyed this one nonetheless.