Down with Love is a 2003 romantic comedy film directed by Peyton Reed. The movie stars Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor. It is inspired by early-1960s American films called "no-sex sex comedies," such as Pillow Talk and Lover Come Back. These older films featured actors like Rock Hudson, Doris Day, and Tony Randall. Down with Love includes many references to these classic movies and others like them.
Time magazine critic Richard Corliss wrote that Down with Love is filled with so many references to these older films that it clearly shows what makes this genre unique.
Tony Randall, who was in the original 1960s films, appears in a small role in Down with Love. He plays a character who gives a friendly approval to the main characters. Other actors in the film include David Hyde Pierce, who plays a nervous friend, and Sarah Paulson, Rachel Dratch, Jeri Ryan, and Jack Plotnick. These actors mimic roles similar to those played by Tony Randall or Gig Young in older movies.
The story follows a woman who supports women’s independence as she faces challenges from a charming but untrustworthy man. The film shows how people acted and thought in the early 1960s, before major changes in attitudes about relationships and gender roles. However, the ending of the film includes ideas that reflect more modern, post-feminist views.
At first, the film received mixed reviews and did not do well at the box office. Over time, though, it has been re-evaluated by critics and has gained a loyal fan base for how it challenges typical romantic comedy rules.
Plot
In 1962, Barbara Novak, a writer hoping to become famous, travels to New York to share her book, Down with Love, with Banner House publishing. The book encourages women to find happiness without depending on men, suggests enjoying life and relationships without marriage, and uses examples like chocolate to show independence. Barbara believes her ideas can help women succeed in jobs and society.
Banner House’s male leaders do not support the book. Vikki Hiller, Barbara’s editor, suggests Barbara meet with Catcher Block, a well-known writer for Know magazine, to help promote the book. Catcher avoids meeting Barbara until she insults him. Meanwhile, Peter MacMannus, Catcher’s boss and friend, and Vikki grow close but do not express their feelings. Peter feels overshadowed by Catcher, and Vikki believes Peter might be gay because she wants a strong partner.
Barbara and Vikki convince Judy Garland to sing Down with Love on The Ed Sullivan Show to help sell the book. Sales increase quickly as women worldwide challenge traditional roles. Catcher now wants to meet Barbara, but she refuses. The situation worsens when Barbara appears on a TV show and reads a chapter from her book called “The Worst Kind of Man,” using Catcher as an example. This causes the women in Catcher’s life to reject him.
Catcher plans to prove Barbara still wants love and marriage. He pretends to be Major Zip Martin, a kind astronaut with a Southern accent. Barbara becomes interested in Zip, who acts unaware of her fame, unlike other men who now avoid her. Zip takes her to fancy places and creates tension by pretending to want to wait for a relationship. His plan becomes harder when he starts falling for Barbara.
When Barbara meets Catcher/Zip at a party, nearly revealing his identity, he decides to take a risk. He tells Barbara that Catcher Block wants to interview Zip for a story about NASA and asks her to attend. At his apartment, he sets up a recording to make Barbara say she loves him. As they prepare for sex, Gwendolyn, one of his lovers, enters. She accidentally reveals Catcher’s true identity, forcing him to confess to Barbara.
Barbara then admits she is Nancy Brown, a former secretary at Know who once worked for Catcher. She had turned down a date with him, wanting to be more than just a passing relationship. She hoped to make him fall in love with her. Catcher says he wants to marry her, but Gwendolyn, hearing Barbara’s name, thanks her for helping women.
Barbara realizes she no longer wants love or Catcher, becoming a true believer in her own message. Vikki and Peter’s relationship changes when Vikki insults Peter for helping Catcher. Peter admits he is like other men and takes Vikki to Catcher’s apartment for a romantic encounter.
Later, Catcher is sad and fails to win back Barbara. His story about how loving her changed him is ruined after Barbara shares her experience in her magazine, Now. Catcher visits Now pretending to interview for a job. He tells Barbara how she changed him and hopes for a middle ground between her confident blonde image and her original brunette self. After leaving, Barbara surprises him in an elevator with bright-red hair, showing she has found a balance. They elope to Las Vegas, inspiring Vikki and Peter to marry. Barbara and Catcher’s marriage leads to a new book aiming to end conflicts between men and women.
Style
The film's sets, costumes, cinematography, editing, music, opening credits, and visual effects, such as split-screen scenes during phone calls with dialogue that has double meanings, resemble the style of Hollywood comedies from 1959 to 1964, like Pillow Talk and Sex and the Single Girl. The New York City skyline from 1962 was recreated digitally for background scenes. A greenscreen technique was used to create the appearance of 1960s rear projection by combining restored street footage from the late 1950s and early 1960s. To match the film's style, the 1950s version of the 20th Century Fox logo, which includes the CinemaScope logo (a wide-screen movie format developed by 20th Century Fox), was used. This logo was updated with the byline for News Corporation and the 1998 version of the fanfare composed by Alfred Newman. The Regency Enterprises logo is pink and features a saxophone jazz version of its theme.
Reception
Down with Love was selected as the opening film for the second Tribeca Film Festival, where it had its first showing. It premiered in New York and was released nationwide on May 16, 2003. The film was released at the same time as The Matrix Reloaded, which was another popular movie. Although many people were excited about Down with Love, it did not earn as much money at the box office as other romantic comedies from the same year, such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Something's Gotta Give, both of which earned over $100 million. Down with Love earned $39.5 million worldwide, which was slightly more than its $35 million production cost.
When the film was released, critics had very different opinions about it. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said some parts of the film were "fun" and described a scene where actress Jennifer Zellweger delivers a powerful speech. A. O. Scott of The New York Times praised the film’s director, the performances of Zellweger and Ewan McGregor, and the writing, calling the movie "intelligent and amusing." However, he questioned whether the film’s approach was as meaningful as another movie, Far from Heaven, which explored deeper themes.
Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle believed Down with Love was better than Far from Heaven, saying it cleverly used the style of old romantic comedies to comment on social issues. Other critics, such as Rex Reed and Andrew Sarris of The New York Observer, had opposing views, with Reed calling the film "affectionate and smart" and Sarris questioning its effectiveness.
Richard Corliss of Time praised the film’s costumes and set design but said the movie had some casting issues and was unsure about its message. He also noted that the film’s ending, which included a two-minute speech, was a strong point.
In later years, critics like Nathan Rabin, Jonathan Rosenbaum, and Richard Brody continued to praise the film. Rosenbaum called it a "masterpiece," and Ebert and Roeper gave it a "two thumbs up" review.
At review websites, Down with Love received mixed responses. It has a 60% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 179 critics, with an average score of 6.10/10. The site’s summary says the film looks good but lacks chemistry between Zellweger and McGregor and has a tone that feels overly confident. On Metacritic, the film scored 52 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audience ratings from CinemaScore gave the film a "C+" grade.
In 2018, Vanity Fair listed Down with Love as number 13 on its list of the "25 Best Romantic Comedies of All Time." In 2017, Jonathan Rosenbaum included it in his list of "25 Favorite Films of the 21st Century (so far)." In 2023, Beatrice Loayza of The New York Times noted that the film has gained a cult following, with younger audiences appreciating its playful approach to themes like gender and relationships.
Music
The film's title is taken from the song "Down with Love," as sung by Judy Garland. In one scene, she is shown singing the song on The Ed Sullivan Show.
The song "Here's to Love," performed by Zellweger and McGregor during the closing credits (and in full on the DVD release as a bonus feature), was added to the film at the last minute. Songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman appear in the scene as the bartender and the pianist. As explained in the DVD commentary, the song was suggested by McGregor, who noticed that the filmmakers had the chance to bring together the stars from two recently popular musical films (his Moulin Rouge! and Zellweger's Chicago).
The songs "Kissing a Fool" and "For Once in My Life," performed by Michael Bublé, were first released on Bublé's 2003 album with the same name.