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Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Movie Review: Down With Love

As I've previously discussed (ETA: here), we recently watched Mad Men Season 1 on DVD. Its a good story, great acting, and, as you've probably heard by now, visually it's just perfect. I love the clothes and the design.

It also reminds me of a movie I think most people missed when it came out in 2003: Down With Love. This is an intentionally campy, silly and anachronistic look at that era, so its basically the exact opposite of Mad Men. But I love it!

Here is the Amazon description:
The bright, glossy world of Doris Day and Rock Hudson sex comedies gets a self-aware brush-up in Down with Love. Pillow-lipped Renée Zellweger (Chicago) plays Barbara Novak, the author of a bestselling book called Down with Love that advises women to focus on their careers and have sex à la carte--just like a man would. Determined to prove that Novak is just as vulnerable to love as any woman, dashingly chauvinist magazine writer Catcher Block (ever-charming Ewan McGregor, Moulin Rouge) pretends to be a courtly astronaut who wouldn't dream of putting his hand on a woman's knee. This piffle of a story seems like nothing more than an excuse for ironic double-entendres and dazzling production design, until a sneaky plot twist suddenly raises the stakes for the movie's end. As he always does, the brilliant David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) scores the most comic points as Block's fussy editor. (by Bret Fetze)
What that description doesn't include, though, may be my favorite part of the movie: Sarah Paulson. Never heard of her? Sure, you have. She was the lead on Studio 60, playing opposite Matthew Perry.


There she is on the right, with Renée Zellweger and the always great Tony Randall. Normally I don't like RZ (and that photo is not helping), but I think she's really cute in this one. So if you missed Down With Love and just love the early-60's look, I highly recommend you check it out.

Buy Down With Love on Amazon.

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