Love and Other Drugs starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway
1996. Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is an attractive, charming and smart guy who uses all his brain cells to make more sales and have sex with as many women as possible. But when he screws his boss’s wife, he finds himself looking for a new job and with the help of his brother Josh (Josh Gad), he starts working as a drug rep. for Pfizer. With the help of his politically incorrect mentor Bruce (Oliver Platt) and his own skills, he is getting the hang of the job, while sleeping with even more women.
But then Jamie meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway) at a doctor (Hank Azaria)’s office and suddenly Jamie is only having sex with Maggie. And why not? She’s hot, independent and she is offering more booty calls than he can handle. But there are 2 problems: Maggie has Parkinson’s disease and the more time they spend together, the more Jamie gets to like her. But Maggie is resisting any commitment or emotional attachment. Even if Jamie can persuade her to be his girlfriend, can they make it work with her symptoms and fears?
**
The movie has a lot to tell. It has a love story, the launch of Viagra, Jamie’s career, his coming to terms with deeper sides of his personality, very talkative supporting characters who try to steal the scene, Maggie trying to fit in a relationship in her life….
Love and Other Drugs is a film with some original moments and many clichés. Well, telling a mixed genre of comedy/romance/drama is not easy.
But the way director/co-writer Edward Zwick (Legends of the Fall, Glory, The Last Samurai) started telling this story, I thought we were going to a get a Cameron Crowe (Elizabeth Town, Jerry Maguire) or Jason Reitman (Up in the Air) style film – sincere, refreshing & highly entertaining.
A little short of 2 hours, Love and Other Drugs could be edited more. It could also have a better dialogue. And a couple less superficial characters?
Edward Zwick’s film starts in the tradition of Cameron and Jason and then suddenly becomes…well, something different and less impressive. It has a nice soundtrack, though.
Some could argue that the movie tried to be show life as it is – politically incorrect, rude, awkward, competitive, sarcastic….But then I could argue it gives you just as many clichés as your average romantic comedy- just with much more nudity. Come on- the misunderstood, potentially great guy who was previously a womanizer only finding his true self through love. The girl resisting true romance because of her fears? Even the big chasing gesture…
This movie is not bad. It is just not as good as I expected. Its problem? It’s not funny enough and it is not romantic enough. It is just alright. 6.6 on IMDB.
Fun notes:
– Gabriel Macht plays competitive firm’s drug-rep.
– Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal hooked up on screen before in Brokeback Mountain, although Jake’s true love in the film was Heath Ledger.
– Hank Azaria had a recurring guest role on Friends as Phoebe’s scientist boyfriend.
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Preview: Love and Other Drugs starring Jake Gyllenhaal & Anne Hathaway
Actors Born In Between 1980-1990 feat. Gyllenhaal
Other Posts on Anne Hathaway
in my opinion the poster describes the main scenes of the film. i know sis,compared to the other films you have watched before,it is not perfect but it is not bad movie to watch. and it does include some of the most extreme sex scenes I have ever seen in a romcom.:) but that film helped me understand the mentality of men in general. they begin as a womanizer but later they find a woman who has a special place for them and they fall in love with her .thenn they make love for forever:))))))))))) I wish that was true in reality 😀 I hope that in the future i can find a man who can fall in love with me. but where I live, that kind of loving seems quite impossible:) i know i did write too much 😀
Well, if it takes Anne Hathaway’s way to get them, I’m not sure you can get the guy. Or let’s say, you wouldn’t want to get him like that.
I don’t know- I don’t think casual sex usually ends in perfect romance;)
I think some of the scenes take away from the romance but I really like how the movie began. It was hilarious. Plus, great soundtrack.
Do you think that the only reason this film was in 1996 is that viagra thing 😀 cause i couldnt find any other reason why its not in present day 😀
Other than that i enjoyed every second of the movie and its sexy scenes plus im a huge fan of anne hathaway, ofcourse not to mention jake “that must be obvious”.
Yep, it was definitely because of Pfizer and Viagra. I actually liked the Viagra storyline and how Jake was being trained to be a rep. Remember the scene with matches? Also the 90s made for a great soundtrack, which is always a plus. But the sex scenes weren’t always sexy and well, some of them took away from the romance. I don’t know, maybe it is just me. I am still a fan of the director, as well as the actors. I just expected more.
Not a romantic movie…however, his love for her is definitively admirable…
Anne and Jake are simply great together!….Still, this movie is not on the top of my list….
Great review 🙂
I watched this really cool interview with them, and they are so adorable together in real life! 🙂 But yeah, it was disappointing in the romance department, and loved how he made her believe in them. But I wish the writer/director hadn’t used the ultimate cliché of “the least interested the girl”, the most chasing the guy will do.” Might be true in real life, but I am not a fan of the concept.
Great soundtrack, though. 🙂