Movies about writers: Down with Love

Down with Love starring Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger was recently shown on a local television station here in South Australia. The short review in the television guide attracted my attention. Here was another movie about writers; in fact, both of the main characters are writers.

McGregor plays the part of a popular journalist while Zellweger’s character is a popular writer for women. Set in the 1960s she writes a blockbuster pre-feminism book encouraging women to put career before love. This popularity makes her the target of journalist “Catch” Block (McGregor) who is determined to bring her down. Block is a compulsive womaniser and pursues her relentlessly, all in the cause of writing about her in a scathing way.

The movie contains very little about the process of writing nor comments much about the life of a writer. It focusses almost entirely on the relationship between the two main characters and the two supporting roles.

This is billed as a romantic comedy. I found it to be nothing but a pointless piece of fluff with a few mildly humourous moments. My wife enjoyed it and my daughter said it was hilarious, but I’m not about to rush out and buy the DVD for my collection.