A movie that proves the adage, "
people who know too much about film shouldn't make movies."
Film critics have noticed that the
Rock Hudson/
Doris Day comedies say volumes about the
sexual revolution. Underneath the apparently safe surface of a
romantic comedy, you can see all the turmoil that will out in the open in the
1960s, even if you don't know that Rock was
gay.
So someone--maybe Peyton Reed, who also brought the world Bring It On--decided to make a movie that recreated the look and feel of those old comedies, but, in an oh-so-postmodern move, tried to summarize the entire history of the sexual revolution during the course of the movie while making sure that the audience knew that the filmmakers were putting in all these references. Unfortunately, the originals only work so well because they steadfastly avoid referring to their real subject, and this effort falls flat. That screws up the plot (which has been covered above) and also the writing: half the time the writers are able to recreate the original, delightful naughtiness of the originals, but for the other half of the time the characters talk very directly about sex.
To sum up, Down With Love is the bastard child of Pillow Talk and Sex and the City. If you like clever innuendo, go with the first; if you like watching women bitch about their sex lives in a putatively entertaining manner, go with the latter. But give this one a miss.
It's true, I've been looking for an excuse to use the word "putatively" for a while.