Love and Other Drugs (2010)

Film: Love and Other Drugs (2010)

Director: Edward Zwick

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway

Love and Other Drugs follows drugs-rep Jamie Randall (Gyllenhaal), a brash pharmaceutical salesman who charms his way into women's beds as and when he likes. That is until Jamie comes across the mysterious free-spirit Maggie Murdock (Hathaway) who just happens to be the woman of his dreams, the love of his life. Zwick's film is not your typical rom-com from the start but Love and Other Drugs soon finds itself going down the cliché road of most romantic comedies. Boy meets girl, boy can't have girl, boy gets girl, problem occurs, pair make up and live happily ever after. Now obviously there is more to this film than that simple analysis, but at the heart of it Love and Other Drugs was a good film, but not a great one. It did what a romantic comedy was supposed to do, but that was about it. To put it simply, nothing stood out to make this a must-see movie but then again, that is perhaps missing the point. This is the type of film you go to with a partner, a film to laugh at and enjoy. Love and Other Drugs hits the spot in that respect.

I'm not trying to put down this film though, not at all - it was still an entertaining flick, with Gyllenhaal at his best. I've always been a bit of a Jake fan, and Donnie Darko, despite its weirdness, is up there with my favourite films. However I've never really liked Anne Hathaway in the past (still not sure if she'll make a good Catwoman or not...), but she did well in Love and Other Drugs and I have no complaints with her performance. It was clear that Jake and Hathaway have chemistry as they really worked well together on screen, which benefited the film enormously. Gyllenhaal's character Jamie was particularly good, as he progressed from an arrogant ladies man and a bit of a knob into a person you care about, especially in the scenes when Maggie was having serious problems with her disease (early on-set Parkinsons if you didn't know). The supporting cast were terrific, with Hank Azaria and Oliver Platt standing out, though it might have been nice if their characters were expanded on a bit more. Relative newcomer Josh Gad, who played Jamie's calamitous brother Josh, was perhaps a bit over the top at times but he was there to provide some laughs and he achieved that - the scene where Jamie comes home to find his brother Josh masturbating over Jamie and Maggie's sex tape was hilariously awkward. During the opening credits I was pretty surprised when I saw that Edward Zwick was behind this one, as Love and Other Drugs is nothing like any of his previous work I've seen (Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Defiance, Legends of the Fall). This is not in any way a bad thing, as Love and Other Drugs was a fun and enjoyable film, which is exactly what it was meant to be.

A More Enjoyable Reality Rating: 7/10

Next up on my cinema schedule is The Fighter, which I will be going to see this Tuesday night (the 25th). I was successful getting tickets to see the free preview at The Little Theatre Cinema, and I'm eagerly anticipating seeing this. I have heard Bale is incredible... you'll find out when I write about The Fighter later this week!

Thanks for reading.