Love and Other Drugs

(Click image for trailer)

Love and Other Drugs (2010), by Edward Zwick          8.5/10

     Remember that Romantic Comedy you watched the other day? You know, the one with Katherine Heigl in it? No, not that one. I mean the one where she falls in love with the man she would despise in ordinary situations, but then that thing happens and she’s forced to spend more time with him, resulting in a series of comedic mishaps and a cheesy love story ending. Yeah, you know the one that I mean. Or have you seen the one with that guy who’s in a bunch of movies? You know the one where he’s a ladies-man but can’t get the girl he loves to like him and when she does, he naturally does something stupid, ruining the chances for a great relationship with the girl of his dreams, but then he has a change of mind and heart and does something very romantic and wins the girl, yet again, resulting in yet another ‘happily ever after'?

     (Yep. That one.)

     I will not criticize any movie for following the rules of its genre, especially since I actually have enjoyed some romantic comedies quite a bit. Knocked Up is hilarious and mostly realistic, Sandra Bullock is amazing in The Proposal and Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, well, come on, two great actors always striving to appear more of a dumbass than their last movie, comedy doesn’t get better than that. But the truth is that most of these movies, Hollywood movies in general, not only romantic comedies, follow simple formulas to attract audiences, usually with extremely attractive actors and actresses appearing naked or in their underwear at some point in the movie. And don’t get me wrong, we all fall for it all the time. Yes, we might see a movie for more reasons other than eye-candy, but let’s be real, who would watch The Ugly Truth, for example, if instead of Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler the movie starred, I don’t know, Courtney Love and John C. Reilly?

 

 

 

(You get the point.)

 

 

 

In any case, there’s nothing wrong in following an overused formula when writing screenplays. The only big problem with that is that it gets too old too fast. And romantic comedies have been going on since forever, that’s why it is so challenging to make one and be taken seriously (like most genres, anyways); because there is nothing new about it. It’s like watching the same movie with different good looking actors and actresses in different times over and over again. And we are used to seeing the same thing happen, it’s hard to even care for these characters, for these stories, at all. Actors like Michael Cera, Katherine Heigl, Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Anniston, Hugh Grant, Ashton Kutcher, Ryan Reynolds and Matthew McConaughey , and many others have struggled with the “romantic comedy tool” stamp at some point or another because of this reason; they became real life archetypes of their characters, which in effect, starts making people yawn, close their eyes and drool all over their popcorn.

     That’s why Love and Other Drugs is so successful. Not only does it manages to fit every single romantic comedy rule and stereotype (incredibly attractive male protagonist for the women and an extraordinarily sexy love interest for the male audiences, both in the peak of their acting careers and getting naked even in the trailer; basic romantic comedy plot) but it brings out the reality of the plot and forgets all about perfect, ideal love stories.

     The film introduces Jaime (Jake Gyllenhaal) an electronics salesman in the year 1996. His cool-guy charms and good looks makes him very good at his job, but he throws it all away when he sleeps with the boss’s girlfriend during his shift. Emotionally shunned from his family of successful doctors and medics, Jaime decides to find a job in an area closer to medicine, so he gets a job in Pharmaceutical sales selling Zoloft, direct competition of Prozac at the time. But things are not as easy as they seem, so he has to count on his good looks to get what he wants yet again. When he finally bribes an acclaimed doctor (Hank Azaria) to let him talk to some of his patients, he meets Maggie, Anne Hathaway’s amazing performance as a very sick 26 year old woman with Parkinson’s disease; a performance that will make you both laugh with her quirky personality and immediately sympathize with her; it’s a great example of how good screenplays and amazing acting can make a character real in an instant. Jaime is immediately attracted to Maggie and pursues to get her attention. Their first actual encounter results in an extended, purely sexual relationship, while discussing the issues of a modern relationship and the dilemmas that complicated diseases like Parkinson’s can have in people’s psychology, and therefore, in people’s relationships. With an ugly looking ally, Jaime and his antithesis  brother later partake in the adventures of selling the new best-selling sex-drug of the late nineties…

(The blue pill.)

… and being very damn good at it. Meanwhile, Jaime realizes that Maggie is the only person who really gets know him, even better than his own family and friends and that she’s the only thing that he’s ever wanted, but her frustrations with her illness leads her to make self-destructive decisions, depressions and alienation, separating herself from him, not wanting to fall in love with Jaime, pulling him into her tragic life. Jaime, then, has to decide if he wants to proceed in life unloved and misunderstood, or take his chances with the one he loves and sacrificing everything for her.

     Though this movie sounds terribly cheesy, like all romantic comedies, it completely works and does not comes out as cheesy at any moment. Yes it has its inevitable cheesy moment a couple of times, but it does not ruin the movie at all, it actually boosts the drama and moves the plot in a very realistic way. The screenplay was very well written, and Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway  proved that great acting sometimes is everything to make an amazing movie. Their characters are as real as it gets, and everyone can relate to them at some point. Their story contemplates and disambiguates modern relationships and sees into their soul. It also spreads awareness of a most terrible disease, like Parkinson’s, and ironically shows us that real life is never like in the movies.

     Overall, the movie is a fun time, it has many good laughs, is well acted, well directed and well written; a good, meaningful variation in the romantic “dramedy” genre. If you’re looking for good eye-candy and/or sex scenes…

…you will definitely get it in this film. A lot of it, and it actually plays really well with the plot; nothing vulgar, too graphic or excessive (it’s not like we’re watching an episode of The Tudors or Spartacus). In fact, their sexual relationship and the way it portrays is actually the most meaningful part of the plot other than Maggie’s disease and Jaime’s success in selling Viagra. Would definitely recommend it, even to people who are not fans of the genre. Very good movie. 8.5/10.

     Until next time, this is Freddy Lizardz with Words on Film. Peace.

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