# Down to You (2000)

### reviewed by
John Sylwa

DOWN TO YOU (2000) by JOHN SYLVA of OFCS (www.ofcs.org)

    Rating: C+

Freddie Prinze Jr. in a film directed at teenagers: This is usually a statement that crushes any film true to it, but with "Down To You," I can't make the inference of his films being so bad quite so easily anymore. Kris Isacsson's surprisingly respectable debut in directing and writing somewhat successfully captures the complexity and hardship in relationships that touching dramas such as 1999's "The Story of Us" did, rather than creating an extended metaphor of teenager's lives that films such as "She's All That" did. "Down to You" is much more mature a film than one would imagine, as its ensemble of teenage oriented actors (Freddie Prinze Jr., Julia Stiles, Shawn Hatosy) would imply that this is just another, run of the mill, teeny bopper fest of proms, drugs, and fighting, but Isacsson proves these stereotyped predictions wrong.

Set in college, "Down to You" focuses on Al Connelly (Freddie Prinze Jr., who breaks out from the norm with an above average performance), and the relationship that would forever change his life, that being with Imogen (Julia Stiles), an aspiring artist, and the twists and turns and complete nose dives taken throughout. The film unfolds in flashback (Hey! A real literary tactic!), as we see Al meet Imogen at a popular college bar/hangout, where their relationship will blossom. The two seem to instantly fall in love, followed by the usual arguments that sink relationships in romantic comedies, and also the peaks that show the viewer why they're together in the first place.

The cast as a whole comes off with much positive energy and appeal, even if many of the actors have resumes that couldn't impress anyone over the age of 16. Freddie Prinze Jr. is somewhat mediocre as usual, but this time around it's a higher level of mediocrity, a level that can almost receive a positive grade. As his energetic partner, Julia Stiles gleams in her natural performance that is captivating and real. Stiles adds a level of realism to "Down to You" that hardly any so-called teen flicks can capture, as rather than a self absorbed, snotty little brat, Imogen is a caring, realistic young adult.

It's apparent when Isacsson was writing "Down to You" for the sake of making money, and when he was writing for the sake of making a good movie, as one scene will hint at "teen" films such as "She's All That" or "Drive Me Crazy," but the next will hint at the dramatic intensity of films such as "Titanic." If the script was written for the sole purpose of quality over box office gross, "Down to You" could have been a much stronger film with the maturity level of adult relationship movies. From a teen's point of view, "Down to You" is probably the best thing since their beloved Backstreet Boys, as the emotionally charged film is surprisingly high quality for the type of film it is trying to be.

Sure, people will automatically label "Down to You" a "teen" film, but some of the vibes that come off of the film tell me that this is actually a film with much higher ambitions, one that could've been more appealing to adults than teens. The film comes close to pulling off a complete turn around for the "teen" genre, but Isacsson throws in too many cliched scenes that fall flat. Nonetheless, "Down to You" is a highly entertaining, enchanting film, even if it is terribly uneven, bouncing between a mature relationship film and an immature teen flick.

The Bottom Line: Surprisingly well-made film with a gem of a performance from Julia Stiles.

            Film reviewed April 17th, 2000.

The review above was posted to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due to ASCII to HTML conversion.

Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews