MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 1:31 Long
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right
| Down to You Movie Stats & Links |
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| Starring: | Julia Stiles, Freddie Prinze Jr., Henry Winkler |
| MPAA Rated: | PG-13 |
| Released By: | Miramax |
| Release Date: | 2000 |
| Kiddie Movie: | Not too young – a lot of sex talk. |
| Date Movie: | Late teens and early 20’s – bring them along. |
| Gratuitous Sex: | They’re doing it a lot, but nothing shown. |
| Gratuitous Violence: | Nah. |
| Action: | Nah. |
| Laughs: | Lots of things to smile and grin at. |
| Memorable Scene: | Al’s dream sequence on “The Man Show.” |
| Memorable Quote: | Two: First you have Al’s buddy who just scored tell Al “She shoved her finger in my, you know.” Second, Imogen’s friend is smoking wacky weed, but beforehand she puts on a, what looks like a swim cap, because “it holds the smoke in your head, for like, a lot longer.” |
| Directed By: | Kris Isacsson |
There I sat, in the movie auditorium with about 800 seats, and between my fingers and toes I could count the number of people there to see “Down to You.” I didn’t even need to question if my thumbs should be counted as fingers because the end ratio of people there went something like this: Me, sitting by myself as usual; to the left of me, in the same row, three girls approximately ten to twelve years old; about six rows up from me was a group of four girls, I’d say mid-teens; about fifteen rows up from me were two girls, again mid-teens; and finally, a row in front of me to the left was the family contingent with mom, dad, and their two daughters. Enough about the audience, but seeing “Down to You” was more like being at a private screening than having to deal with a theater filled with annoying people. The movie.
Basically “Down to You” tells the story of two people who fall in love and realize it ain’t always that easy to make it work. You’ve got Freddie Prinze Jr. as Al, the not really knowing what he wants to do with his life but he think it will have to do with cooking, and then you’ve got Julia Stiles as Imogen, the now really knowing what she wants to do with her life but she thinks it will have to do with art. They’re in college, she’s a freshman, he’s a sophomore (I think – it really doesn’t matter except for the fact that it puts both of them drinking underage for a lot of the movie – ain’t college great!), and they fall in love. Al’s got a goofy family led by Henry Winkler as the host of a cooking show, and we never meet Imogen’s family. In any case, they meet, fall in love, have a lot of sex, she tests their love by going to France for the summer, she comes back, they have more sex, she thinks she might be pregnant, Al tries to do the right think but Imogen pushes him away, they question their relationship especially when he calls her a bitch and she calls him an old man, she cheats on him, he’s pissed, they break up, but it’s a love story so you know it can’t end that way, and they live happily ever after.
Alright, sure, I gave away a lot of the movie, but hey, it’s not as if you’re sitting there thinking this will be anything new in a love story, because, well, it isn’t. And that’s not saying the movie is that bad, it just isn’t that good, and it’s not because our lead characters don’t flash their googly-eye smiles at each other enough, but maybe it’s because the love story is so normal that it doesn’t hit any new ground. Weird friends, weird families, not knowing where your life is taking you, but the one thing I guess this movie does have is the happy ending because usually, especially after her cheating on him and moving away, well I think that would be the more natural ending than the happy one.
In any case the movie is alright but probably more as a rental and more for older teens. There’s lots of talk about sex although no one gets naked, and the jokes are kinda the crude variety. But after seeing too many serious or thinking movies I did enjoy “Down to You” more than I think I should have, but I still can’t get the rating higher than 2 1/2 stars out of 5. I like Julia Stiles. I think she’s got a good future in front of her and all the teenage girls are finding Freddie just dreamy. They both just needed a better story.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!