Love and Other Drugs

Love and Other Drugs is directed by the veteran, Edward Zwick. He seems like a weird choice to direct what seems on the face of it to be a romantic comedy. His last few films, Defiance, Blood Diamond, The Siege, and Courage Under Fire, are all war films of one sort or another. But I think that he gives Love and Other Drugs an edge that it might not have had otherwise. The setup of the movie is slightly strange anyway. This is a love story about a slacker (Jake Gyllenhaal) turned Viagra salesman, who has spent his life getting along on his good looks, and a reclusive artist (Anne Hathaway) with Parkinson's disease. Part of the movie is a bit slapstick as Gyllenhaal and his mentor (Oliver Platt) try to get doctors to sell more Zoloft and Viagra.

But the love story between Gyllenhaal, who has never committed to anything in his life, and Hathaway, who has decided that she doesn't ever want to depend on anyone, is pretty raw. It's not quite as amazing as the stuff going down in Rachel Getting Married including fistfights with Debra Winger, but Love and Other Drugs doesn't pull its punches, at least until the unfortunate climax where the romantic Hollywood formula is applied, and Gyllenhaal engages in a high speed chase down the interstate so that he can flag down Hathaway and express his undying devotion.

But up to that point, Love and Other Drugs is pretty interesting. Gyllenhaal and Platt are good at the comic relief as they lie in wait to ambush doctors and bribe their receptionists. Gyllenhaal first sees Hathaway while in a doctor's waiting room. The predictable wild sex is followed by the breaking down of a lot of walls on both sides as Gyllenhaal has never fallen in love before, and Hathaway has vowed never to fall in love again. The movie ends up being a juxtaposition of slapstick humor and serious romantic issues but it mostly works. The two leads don't just look good but can act as well. And the director keeps things moving. This movie probably won't make my top ten for the year but it's worth seeing.