It's that time of the month again! Time for another movie review! But this isn't some same old movie you've seen come on TV countless of times. This is an underrated gem that a lot of people don't think to see it. And if you haven't, you should definitely start. Like right now. At this proper moment! LOL.

As you can tell by the picture, I'm talking about Down With Love starring Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. Those names alone should make you want to watch this movie. It tells the story of feminist writer Barbra Novak in the 60s who writes a bestseller that tells women to stop falling for men's tricks and to take control of their sex lives. She goes head to head with ladies' man Catcher Block who has an assortment of international women who constantly falls for his tricks. Because women are catching wise, he vows to go undercover and get Barbra to say on tape that deep down, she does want the whole roses and rainbows things. As you can imagine, delicious chaos ensues.

This is a classic movie about women versus men and the power play between them. It has a lot of tricks, double entendres, and everything else that could go on in a power play between men and women. If you like these sort of movies that's fun and isn't too interested in women falling for men and losing themselves, having sex a lot or anything like that, then watch this. This is more like mental gymanastics than it is about physical ones. But if you're into that or it sounds like something you want to watch, then you should definitely keep reading. If not, eh, that's your choice. But for those of you who do want to, keep reading!



I'm mostly going to talk about the four main characters in this movie because if I talk about the plot at all, I know some little part of me is going to want to give the movie away. And you don't want that!



Well, Like I said, there's Barbra Novak played by Renee Zellweger. This is right up Renee's alley. She generally has this whole charm that just makes her suitable to this role. She has a very wide range of abilities. She can play a fish in Shark Tale, a star hungry singer in Chicago, and an awkward, down on her luck in love woman in Bridget Jones, and now she plays a feminist writer who has somehow commanded the attention of Catcher Block, the man who gets off on playing women and always getting what he wants.

Renee commands the screen as she deals with all of these men who tells her that her book isn't going to amount to anything. She plays phone tag with Catcher, who is a magazine writer, who's supposed to write a cover story on her but they never meet up because he's always getting distracted by all of these women. And if it were anyone else but Barbra, they probably would have picked someone else. But, because Barbra was that good, she made her book an international best seller and caused Catcher to get miffed because now he can't get laid like he wants to.

Renee just brings an enchantment to this role that just makes you want to watch. I'll admit, I have a shameless girl crush on Renne because she is just so good at what she does. A lot of people can make fun of her voice, skinny legs, and fat cheeks, but you can't deny that she is a very good actress. I will practically watch her in anything that she does because her acting is so infectious that you just have to watch. And in Down With Love, it's the same thing. She speaks her theory raised in the book in a way that anyone can understand it. It's not one of those high browed, I'm-better-than-you-because-I-can-say-a-lot-of-things-that-sounds-smart-and-look-down-on-you-because-you-don't-get-it type of books. It's like a modern day self help book with a lot of tips for women on how to take back control from men.

And honestly, Renee just knocks it out of the park. Simple as that.



Next, is Catcher Block played fantastically by Ewan McGregor. I just love when Ewan acts with his accent. No offense to his roles with an American accent, those are good too, like The Island, but I think he's just enchanting when he plays with his accent. But when you watch the movie, you get a sense of "of course" when he's talking. He's supposed to be this panty dropper, big time magazine writer. A ladies man, man's man, man about town who can do no wrong. And in the 60s, they were in full swing with the Bond movies, and that was the most exotic thing was to have an Englishman in New York. Even though Ewan is Scottish.

Ewan plays Catch like a man who's at the top of his game and has no intention of coming down. He can walk into a party and immediately someone wants to do him. Ewan has a type of face that's classic, sophisticated, and devilishly handsome that makes you think he was almost born to play this role. Which he probably was. Catcher is this suave ladies man who likes the way things are going. So when Barbra comes in threatening everything he stands for, he knows he has to do something about it which causes him to go undercover.

Ewan is such a great actor that when you watch, you come under his spell a little too. This may be a rom-com, but it's one of those rare rom-coms with something more under the movie rather than just boy meets girl, boy likes girl, boy gets girl. This movie is just a delicious social experiment with Catcher as a cocky man who can get away with anything.



Ask any writer and they will tell you that the easiest way to build conflict is to put two opposite characters in the same room and see what craziness can ensue. After all, that's what basically every workplace and home comedy is based upon. But there's a reason that it works so well! Because it's funny as all get out! I'm talking of course of Peter McManus played amazingly by David Hyde Pierce. I'll admit, I haven't seen a lot of David's work or if I have, I don't remember which only speaks to his acting chops. He's able to disappear into his roles, where if you see his movies, you see the character first, not the actor. And never is it more true for David.

Peter is this highly neurotic, worry wart who is the complete opposite of Catcher. Let's put it this way, he's everything Catcher isn't. He fumbles, he stutters, he worries, and he tries way too hard. He even says himself that he has 20 diagnosed neuroses. But then again, it's the 60s so what constituted as a neurosis then could be something small today. Anywho, Peter is the dutiful friend who makes excuses for his friend's bad behavior and he keeps Barbra's friend, Vicki, occupied as they undergo their own rom-com.

Peter is adorable in that he just can't catch a break. He was one of those guys that could never get a date in high school, who had trouble talking to girls, and got picked on incessantly by the jocks which only further lowered his confidence. Not to mention his father is a self-made man, who went out and worked for his fortune so there's that added idea that Peter never really got a chance to handle things for himself and grow up and grow a pair.



And finally, there's Vicki Hiller played by Sarah Paulson. And yes, that's the woman from American Horror Story. Vicki is almost Barbra's opposite. She exemplifies what the book is trying to accomplish. She's a woman who's making headlines in the work force and the men don't like it. But she's also a little of a control freak who doesn't really get what Down With Love is. Deep down, she knows she wants a husband, she wants to be romanced out of every principle she holds dear, she wants someone to respect her success and still love her.

She's a focused person who goes full throttle, 100% in everything she does, whether it's getting Barbra's book noticed, or getting with Peter even if he was a raging homosexual. Yeah, you need to watch the movie in order to figure that one out! Sarah plays Vicki very well, as a woman of the 60s. She exemplifies the ideas of that time. Women were starting to branch out into the work force, they strove for equality with men, and they wanted a real man at home who didn't try to put them down because of it.



This movie is a fun little yarn about why men and women are so different and why there's always drama between two goal oriented power players. If that sounds like your kind of movie, then by all means, watch this movie! If not, you should still give it a chance. I can't exactly name any movies that are like Down With Love because so many have been soley focused on the guy getting the girl by doing outrageous things.

In this movie, Ewan doesn't have to do outrageous things to get a laugh or to get the girl. It's a romping good time and honestly, the best two hours you'll ever spend of your life watching this movie. You won't regret it and it'll be a fun way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.



Hope you enjoyed the review! Go on and watch the movie! You know you want to by now!