The early-'60s sex-comedy homage Down With Love features an appropriately cute and ever-so-slightly kitschy soundtrack, which mixes vintage lounge and pop songs with new tracks and
Marc Shaiman's bubbly score. From the ring-a-ding-ding title track, a craftily written battle-of-the-sexes duet between
Holly Palmer and
Michael Buble, to
Frank Sinatra and
Astrud Gilberto's versions of "Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)," the soundtrack cleverly outlines the film's story with its music.
Buble also contributes pleasant versions of "Kissing a Fool" and "For Once in My Life," while
Esthero's "Every Day Is a Holiday (With You)" is a pleasant anachronism, mixing the brass sections and handclaps that featured so prominently in early-'60s pop with a few hints of the group's electronic sound.
Shaiman's score is twinkly and witty, particularly on tracks like "Barbara Arrives" and "Barbara Meets Zip"; it might be a little overdone, but in the small doses in which it's featured here, it manages to be charming instead of cloying. Down With Love's stars, Ewan McGregor and Renée Zellweger, duet on the soundtrack's closing song, "Here's to Love." As displayed by their work on the Moulin Rouge and Chicago soundtracks, both of them -- and McGregor in particular -- have fine singing voices; it would've been nice to hear them sing more of the songs featured on this album (the theme song in particular). However,
Down With Love works so well because it's such a short and sweet album, one that fans of the movie should be very pleased to have as a musical keepsake. ~ Heather Phares