Down To You (2000) Freddie Prinze Jr., Julia Stiles, Selma Blair, Shawn Hatosy, Zak Orth, Rosario Dawson, Henry Winkler, Lucie Arnaz. Cinematography by Robert Yeoman. Written and directed by Kris Isacsson. 90 minutes. Rated PG-13, 1.5 stars (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo.com Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?Edward+Johnson-Ott To receive reviews by e-mail at no charge, send subscription requests to ejohnsonott@prodigy.net or e-mail ejohnsonott-subscribe@onelist.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
In 1997, I spoke with "Down To You" star Freddie Prinze Jr. about his sly, perfectly measured supporting performance in "The House of Yes," a delicious little black comedy about seduction, madness, incest and the Kennedy assassination. The talented actor was exceedingly polite and well spoken as he enthusiastically discussed acting techniques. After interviewing too many preening, pretentious, self-absorbed Hollywood heartthrobs, Prinze's down-to-earth, working class nature was very refreshing.
The only thing wrong was his hair. Styled in a fashion popular with young showbiz studs, his coal black hair was close-cropped on the sides and back, with the top left thick, messed-up and heavily moussed. The desired effect of the hairdo, I think, is to look as if you had just crawled out of bed and, should the right person come along, would be ready to crawl right back in again. Of course, the mousse ruins any appearance of spontaneity and the 'do packs about as much oomph as a lacquered explosion. On a guy as genuine as Prinze, such a trendy, artificial hairstyle simply didn't fit.
Drivel like "Down To You" doesn't fit Prinze either. Aimed at starry-eyed young girls, the cookie-cutter romantic comedy is trite, tedious and even blander than its title. To try and jazz things up, the filmmakers throw in wacky parents, colorful sidekicks, flashbacks within flashbacks and unusual scene dissolves, but there's no disguising the dullness of the main storyline. You can arrange Pop Tarts artfully on a platter, dust them with powdered sugar and artfully drizzle stings of chocolate and raspberry sauce over everything, but, in the end, it's still just a plate of Pop Tarts.
Prinze isn't alone here in the squandering of talent. Julia Stiles, the tempestuous lead in "10 Things I Hate About You," also adds some flotsam to her resume. And poor Shawn Hatosy, so winning as the central character in last year's "Outside Providence," is reduced to playing a perpetually horny goofball. As for Zak Orth (the loudmouth boorish student from "In and Out"), his role here as a loudmouth boorish porn star with delusions of becoming Orson Welles may actually be a step up.
Prinze (and, although they have made fewer poor decisions, Stiles and Hatosy as well) would do well to use Matt Damon as a role model. Damon could easily have traded on his All-American good looks, playing terminally pleasant pretty boys in one film after another, but instead, he has carefully selected roles that challenge his skills, as well as the sensibilities of his fan base. While the lure of an easy paycheck is undoubtedly tempting, Prinze has gone from nervy ("The House of Yes") to tolerable ("I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "She's All That") to for-the-love-of-God-what-were-you thinking ("Wing Commander," "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" and, now, "Down To You"). An "aw shucks" demeanor and crooked grin will only carry a performer so far. If Prinze doesn't start taking some chances soon, he is in danger of being hopelessly typecast as an innocuous male ingenue. As he ages and his looks fade, where will that leave him? Trying to snag a gig on a syndicated TV action series? Prinze deserves better than that.
You'll notice I've said virtually nothing about the plot. That's because there is virtually nothing to say. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, yadda yadda yadda. The lead characters frequently address the camera directly; a stylistic gimmick that has been done to death over the last couple of years. The bulk of the story is told in flashbacks, further dashing any hint of immediacy. Henry Winkler and Lucie Arnaz offer a bit of distraction as the quirky, loving parents: he's the flashy host of a TV cooking show and she's a disc jockey who actually likes what she plays. Although the movie is only 90 minutes long, it feels like three hours. Thank goodness for the soundtrack, which offers a nice selection of melodic ditties.
If you're a young lady who hasn't seen very many films, you may find "Down To You" dreamy, occasionally naughty and wonderfully romantic. If you're not, you probably were so bored by the trailers that you never even considered seeing this movie. Good for you. Watching talented young actors slowly committing career suicide is not a pretty sight.
© 2000 Ed Johnson-Ott
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