In Love

Down to You: Boy meets girl, they fall in love, relationship cools, couple breaks up and each is tortured by thoughts of "What if…"

I decided to see this movie because I enjoyed Julia Stiles' performance in "10 Things I Hate About You". However, after seeing the marquee poster - a knockoff of "The Very Thought of You" - I scaled down my expectations and braced for a painful two hours. My prediction was partially correct.

Unlike the typical teen oriented romantic comedy there was an attempt to infuse this movie with a bit of reality. Unfortunately, the writers apparently could not decide if they wanted to make a romantic comedy or a serious relationship movie. The result is a confused mess: a ludicrous subplot about a student's burgeoning career as a pornographer gets far more screen time than does the terrified couple trying to come to grips with a potential pregnancy.

The second problem is the chemistry between Stiles and Freddie Prinze Jr - there is none (I blame the casting director for this). Although both actors have screen presence, they don't click as a duo, consequently, their interactions- especially the fight scenes -do not ring true. Their job is made doubly difficult by having to utter stupid lines.

This movie has been targeted to a certain market, and will probably do well.

Too bad.

"Down to You" is a film about a relationship between two college students. At first, it's magical and special but over time things begin to sour and they slowly drift apart. Is there any hope for the couple?

The writing of "Down to You" is very frustrating because it seems as if two folks wrote the film separately and then shoved them together...whether they fit or not. On one hand, you have a very sweet romance between Julia Stiles and Freddy Prinze Jr....and I liked that a lot. On the other, you have some supporting characters which don't fit the film at all and you question why Prinze's character would even associate with these jerks they call his friends. I did like Henry Winkler as Prinze's father...but the rest of the supporting cast just didn't fit in and just seemed like extras from a totally different movie...such as a raunchy comedy like "The Hangover" or "Superbad". The combination of the two just didn't work...and it's a shame, as Stiles (especially) and Prinze were essentially wasted.

I loved the relationship...it was very sweet. I also loved the asides--the times when the characters step out of the fourth wall. Brilliant and enjoyable. But the rest...just didn't fit and seemed a distraction. And, late in the film, they had one of the pair do something out of character and mean-spirited...which left me feeling annoyed. Why??!! Overall, a weird film that had great elements....as well as a lot of crap that really undid so much of the good. Frustrating and I am sure the two leads must have been frustrated as well by this...as the film really could have given a boost to their careers had the writing been consistent.

Al and Imogen have both finished college and now live separately despite seeing each other throughout their college years. However it is clear that both have some degree of unresolved feelings for each other. In to-camera interviews they discuss their relationship and trace it's path from the first time they met in Imogen's freshman year.

It is a device that I have grown accustom to because I have seen it done well quite often, but the direct-to-camera style is clearly difficult to do. First of all you need strong or likeable characters as the style is basically requiring some degree of interest of empathy from the first second. Without this it is pretty weak. This film stumbles at this point because even halfway through the film, I was still struggling to care less about the characters. Past this problem the plot is not the strongest – it has been done before regardless of superficial changes. It has little genuine humour and mostly is just the cinematic version of puppy love. When the problems come they are so poorly handled by the script that they fail to convince.

Sadly the blame must be shared between script and actors for most of this. The script fails to create characters that convince. The dialogue rarely rings true and sounds like a weak teen drama at worst. However this doesn't totally excuse the actors as they don't bring much to the roles. Prinze Jr is so wishy-washy and lifeless that he is not someone I ever got behind as real. He is too idealistic and, as a result, any scenes where he has to show hurt or anger, are unbelievable. Stiles is OK but suffers from a poor script. The support cast are basically monkeys who are simply comedy characters. I know that sounds cruel but none have any effort put into them – the porn star (no type of porn I've ever seen), the geek etc. Henry Winkler gets the odd smile but is just a famous face to add colour. Selma Blair is the least convincing porn actress I've ever seen but the Biggest waste to me was Rosario Dawson, not only gorgeous but a real talent given the chance, her character was so pointless that I wondered why they even bothered creating it.

It's not an awful film – it is simply mediocre and unremarkable to the point of monotony. Every part of it feels like you've seen it better somewhere else. The script is lazy – things are poorly thought out and the characters are thin and poorly developed. None of the cast really put their heart into it and the end result is a film that doesn't really do anything but still seems to take forever to finish!

Although it will be remembered for things like Trainspotting and My Beautiful Laundrette, FilmFour folded partly because it produced things like this that were without spark, wit or invention.

"Down to You" was slammed by critics when it was released, claiming it to be unoriginal, unfunny and really a waste of time. Pay no attention to them. It is rare for romantic comedies to be entirely original [they are after all dealing with love], but Down to You does have it's moments differing it from most of the recently released teen comedies [to which it has constantly been compared].

Through narration by both protagonists the audience is able to see the development of both characters in the long-term and how they ultimately react to each other. Freddie Prinze Jr and Julia Stiles were perfectly cast and behaved as mature young adults for the majority of the film [sparing the audience from cliched teen talk]. They leave the zaniness to their co-stars, which was a good move. The film is more of a "love story" then most recent teen flicks dealing mainly with "physical attraction" or "opposites attract".

One problem with Down to You however is it's not presented well enough to keep the audience interested. Perhaps in the hands of a more capable director this would be achieved, as I got a bit bored with a few of the scenes and some jokes really fall flat. Because of this, it's not as memorable as other teen flicks such as "10 Things" or "Scream", even.. as it's pacing is quite slow. It's saving grace is the cast. Henry Winkler gives a comic performance as Prinze's celebrity-chef father and Zak Orth plays Prinze's "friend turned porn- star-friend" with gutso. Selma Blair gave a sultry performance but lacked development making her nothing more than "the porn star girl".

Compared to the other three major teen romance flicks of the year (Loser, Whatever it Takes, Boys and Girls) Down to You is indeed one of the finest. It just needed more "oomph" to make it more memorable.

7/10

"Down to You" is one of the brightest and refreshing romances I've seen. With two of Hollywood young and hottest stars, "Down To You" has become one of my favorite romantic films. I enjoyed this film for several reasons from the presentation to the performances.

I will argue with anyone who says "Down To You" is one of the worst films ever made. The material is new, the dialogue is fresh and the performances are superb. I concede their are cliche's in this film; however, it should not detract from the other assets of "Down to You." In order to accomplish the mission of convincing the audience the script works, the casting director must find just the right chemistry in two highly skilled and talented stars.

In this case, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Julia Stiles have the best chemistry anybody could ask for. It was such an awesome sight to witness a the director bring two of the hottest stars together to produce one of the year's best romantic comedies in "Down To You."

I knew Julia Stiles could act but what I didn't realize is that Stiles beauty radiated off the screen. I was very impressed with her ability to capture the audience's attention with her smile. Stiles is a rising star and she has nowhere to go but up in Hollywood; I can't wait see her next film.

For those who don't like this film, I ask you: How could you not appreciate this romantic comedy? It deals with so many different things and is done to perfection. I have always enjoyed a script that has depth to it as this one does because it tells the story of two people and their struggles to hold their relationship together and keep their romance alive.

The best aspect of "Down To You" is it allows everyone the opportunity to see the ups and downs in a relationship. I feel this film would make for a great example in studying films revolving around relationships.

"Down To You" was very enjoyable to watch and I wish everyone could feel the same enjoyment I felt watching this film.