From The Movie Snob

Down With Love. (D+) I’m a fan of romantic comedy, but I did not like this movie. Indeed, I found it neither romantic nor humorous. Maybe it wasn’t supposed to be; I have never seen any of the 1960’s movies with the likes of Doris Day and Rock Hudson that it supposedly spoofs or satires or whatever it does to them. The basic premise of the movie was not bad (attractive woman writes best-selling women’s-lib book; attractive cad-about-town sets out to destroy her credibility by making her fall in love with him), but I thought the characters said and did too many things that were unbelievable, even downright bizarre. Which is too bad, because I like Renee Zellweger and have nothing against Ewan MacGregor.

The Pianist. (A) Although this film recently came out on DVD, it is still playing on the big screen at one of our arthouse theaters, and I decided to bite the bullet and see it. I tend to value movies primarily for light escapism, so I generally avoid movies that promise to be hugely depressing, whatever their artistic merits. But not always, and today was the day for The Pianist. It is an engrossing movie about one family, and in particular one member of that family, facing the Holocaust in Warsaw, Poland, and Adrien Brody did indeed give a terrific performance. It’s a 2-and-a-half-hour emotional beating, but a cathartic one. I recommend it.