Movie Review: Love and Other Drugs

In the 90’s, Jamie Randall(Jake Gyllenhaal) is only person without ambitions in a successful and rich family. He is a med school dropout while his siblings are all very successful. After being thrown out of his job at a local electronics store for his promiscuous activities, Jamie gets selected as a medical rep for Pfizer with help from his brother Josh Randall(Josh Gad). Jamie is posted in Ohio where he is teamed with Bruce(Oliver Platt) for promoting Zoloft. Bruce dreams of moving to Chicago where the big league is. In order to promote Zoloft, they have to get Dr Knight(Hank Azaria) endorse the medicine. But Dr Knight is a Prozac loyalist.

Jamie uses his charm on the ladies in the front office to get close to Dr Knight. But he is not able to get Dr Knight endorse the medicine. On one such occasion, he meets Maggie Murdock(Anne Hathaway). Maggie is in very early stages of Parkinson’s. Jamie is interested in her. So, Jamie contacts her and asks her out for a date. On the first date, Jamie realizes that Maggie is different from his previous flings. Maggie understands Jamie’s motive clearly. They dump the food, goes to Maggie’s apartment and make passionate love. After the first date, they decide to embark on a physical relationship without emotional attachment. But soon, Jamie is attracted to Maggie and wants to take the relationship to the next level. But there are two problems. Maggie is fiercely independent and her condition will aggravate demanding more than what Jamie could possibly offer. Will Jamie and Maggie come to terms with the reality?

Edward Zwick directs this drama which is based on the non-fiction book “Hard Sell: Evolution of a Viagra Salesman” by Jamie Reidy. Edward successfully delivers an interesting and mature love story through intelligent witty conversations laced with facts regarding medicine and medical conditions. Edward is able to bring in many subtexts to the movie without meandering from the main plot. There is a lot of nudity in the movie; enhancing the strong emotions the characters feel towards each other. Moreover, the nudity is a clever move from the director as it make the characters more intimate to the audience.

Anne Hathaway steals the thunder from everyone with her portrayal of Maggie. Anne’s Maggie is an independent spirit who was in bad relationships in the past. Now, she does not want to get involved with anyone. She is very difficult to read. So, the audience ends up wondering how she is going to react. In all instances, Anne surprises us.

This is not suitable to watch with kids because of nude scenes. If you are in India, do not watch this movie. The censor would have unleashed havoc on many scenes diluting the impact. Instead, wait (or pray) for an original version on DVD. For everyone else, it is a worth a watch.

Language: English

Genre: Drama

Rating: ***

Tags: Movies,Jake Gyllenhaal,Anne Hathaway,Edward Zwick,Drama