Okay, here's the ultimate double feature for you this weekend: Frothy romantic comedy, Down with Love, and dark window into the human condition, The Shape of Things.
A.O. Scott is upbeat about Down with Love and says, "Like Civil War enthusiasts in a Virginia cow pasture, Ms. Zellweger and Mr. McGregor don period costumes to re-enact a legendary skirmish in the battle of the sexes.
David Edelstein is more dubious about The Shape of Things, offering this about master provocateur Neil LaBute who wrote and directed, "I'd say he needs to meet a nice girlbut I'm not sure any nice girls need to meet him."
Gothamist shouldn't have been so surprised that A.O. Scott liked Down With Love - he loved Peyton's earlier film, Bring It On, not just because "characters swear occasionally and almost never appear fully dressed."
An Indiewire article on making The Shapes of Things, which was based on LaBute's stage play of the same name. Gothamist saw it last year at the Promenade Theater; then it had Smashing Pumpkins songs punctuating acts, now there is Elvis Costello in the film.
