Pazzo di te

"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.

Yet another Freddie Prinze Jnr-lead teen romance comedy about two college students, Alec (Prinze Jnr) and Imogen (Julia Stiles, Save The Last Dance) who fall in love, and experience the highs and lows of being in a serious relationship. The good stuff: Unique and refreshing editing, Julia Stiles. The bad stuff: Freddie Prinze Jnr... he's a very ordinary actor, the plot... 100% unoriginal and not very engaging. Overall, I wouldn't say this is a bad movie, but it's not 'good' in any sense of the term and is ultimately completely forgettable.

Now I could win awards for being the world's biggest romcom lover. I mean I'll even watch really really bad ones ('The Wedding Date' anyone?) but this is one of the ones I didn't really like. I mean it's watchable, don't get me wrong, but it's not something I'm likely to rewatch in a hurry. Freddie Prinze Jnr just isn't an engaging person and I just didn't feel the chemistry between him and Julia Stiles and the peripheral characters weren't charming or interesting at all. Having said that there's this amazing scene where Julia Stiles dances in front of a room of people (.... cue 10 Things, The Prince And Me, Save The Last Dance ....) and it's really funny. I'd say that was the thing worth watching this film for.

"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.

"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