Down With Love is a witty, arch and knowing homage to the Rock Hudson/Doris Day pictures of the 50s and 60s, set in a New York decorated in beautiful colors. Ewan McGregor and Renée Zellweger gamely fill the Hudson/Day roles, with David Hyde Pierce and Sarah Paulson both excellent as their respective sidekicks. Well written (it's easy to see what's being spoofed, even if you're unfamiliar with the material) and dazzlingly put together by Peyton Reed, it's a lot of fun but altogether a bit empty. McGregor is his usual charismatic self and succeeds better than Zellweger, who fails to make their chemistry very convincing--we know that they are meant to fall in love only because the formula being aped demands it. Overall by the end the postmodernism becomes a bit too much, and the ending takes its time to arrive, but it's still great fun to watch. A perfectly enjoyable night out.
*** 1/2