LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS (18)
Release Date: 14 April 2011
Running Time: 103 minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Director: Edward Zwick
Screenplay: Edward Zwick, Charles Randolph and Marshall Herskovitz; based on Jamie Reidy's 'Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman'
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Hank Azaria, Judy Greer
Plot: "Love and Other Drugs" is based on Jamie Reidy's memoir Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman. Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway) is an alluring free spirit who won't let anyone - or anything - tie her down. But she meets her match in Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal), whose relentless and nearly infallible charm serve him well with the ladies and in the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical sales. Maggie and Jamie's evolving relationship takes them both by surprise, as they find themselves under the influence of the ultimate drug: love.
Review: This is officially not the first time I am seeing any movie that have the characters cruising on a no-strings attached relationship, just a love on the bed but nothing what so ever tying them through the hearts. Remember 'No Strings Attached' from January? Perhaps there will be another one entitled 'Friends with Benefits' coming this summer. What ever it is, 'Love and Other Drugs' managed to pull off some distinct on its own with regards of the mixture of romantic comedy with a strong essence of drama in it. Despite the odds of having only 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, I am not convinced if the movie should be slapped with such a low nodding after all.
Set in the year 1996, Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a brilliant young man but was recently fired from an electronics store after caught having sex with his manger's girlfriend. His wealthy brother Josh (Josh Gad) offers him a job as a medical representative for Pfizer and tries to get the doctors to prescribe Zoloft and Zithromax. He is constantly rebuffed by the doctors, but his partner Bruce (Oliver Platt) advises him to persuade Dr Knight (Hank Azaria) to start prescribing Zoloft, instead of Prozac due to his enormous influences on the medical society at Pittsburgh.
One day, Jamie meets one of Knight's patients, Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway) who suffers from early-onset of Parkinson's disease. After their first date, Jamie and Maggie instantly engaged in sexual relationship. Upon hearing that his company has developed a new erection drug called Viagra, Jamie convinces Bruce to help me get the quota, so that both of them could get their targets achieved. Jamie then starts selling Viagra, which proved to be very popular with the doctors. In the meantime, Jamie tries to convince Maggie to have a fuller relationship with hum, much to her refusal.
Indeed, 'Love and Other Drugs' suffers a disastrous critical rating but in Green Tea Movie, I beg to differ. The movie is indeed not your average romantic comedy to begin with. It is better than many of these average genre flick, simply because it takes itself lightly, charming and convincing. It is smarter and sexier than you could have expected. It is a movie that asserts the grown-up issues as the companion and it the sensuality feels real. It feels even more real because it is an adult romance. There is a part to find the essence of real love with honesty, and the other part takes itself into the warmness. The plot as a whole challenges the audience to examine the relationship between Jamie and Maggie. The two characters own a different charisma and personality itself while maintaining the attractive virtue towards each other.
The movie opens up strongly with a great setup; starting off with a manic pace, highlighting the free spirits of both of the main characters. Then, the plot depicts the hardship of Jamie to make the ground in drug rep, despite his amazing selling and womanizing skills, there are times it shows off some reality behind the unethical acts of the drug wars. Essentially, the struggle of Maggie to cope with her Parkinson's tremors, maintaining her charms and good hearted off beat are equally highlighted. It never take the story to deal too much into seriousness in the early stage with things seem to be carefree and so wonderful until the middle act comes in. The disparate elements of wanting to move on or out of the relationship feels a little tiring. It becomes a little loose in the end because of the sudden change in the mood of the plot. It gets too sentimental at the end, clunky and it feels so clichéd. It is a shame since the movie could have been rewarding more distinction for itself.
While there are some weakness on the plot, one could not discounted the fact that they may have found themselves attracted to the main stars. Anne Hathaway is fantastic and reliable as always. She leads the emotional barraging and setting a tone well depending on the situation. Jake Gyllenhaal looks more dimensional, giving a rather good acting and believable. Both forms a great chemistry bonding that really makes you into the story. Supporting casts like Hank Azaria and Oliver Platt are mesmerizing and strong as well.
In the end, 'Love and Other Drugs' tastes good and many would be enjoying the delicious chemistry that is so believable. The plot may be a little hair-wiring to distinct itself into which part it rather choose in the end, despite a great setup. Be it a pure comedy, pure romantic or pure drama, the movie generally works well because of the beautiful peoples in it. If the disparate elements in the plot could have been handled more tenderly, 'Love and other Drugs' could have been a great movie to watch. Simply to say, there is nothing wrong watching it. Give it a try!
THE RATING:
Story: 3.0
Casts: 4.0
Cinematography: 3.5
Effects: 3.0
GREEN-TEA-O-METER: 13.6
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