Synopsis: Maggie (Hathaway) is an alluring free spirit who won’t let anyone – or anything – tie her down. But she meets her match in Jamie (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. Based on Jamie Reidy’s memoir “Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman.”
Release Date: November 24, 2010 MPAA Rating: PG-13
Genre(s): Romance,
Film Review
Production
There is never such a thing as a casual affair. It is those who believe it is possible that end up losing themselves in the throws of passion, and eventually fall in love. As is the case between Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway). They meet under the most unusual circumstances, in a Doctor’s examination room, and their affair begins as nothing more than a quick fling in lieu of actually finishing their coffee. It continues on as a dirty, sexy, spontaneous romp where Maggie continually pushes Jamie away and he never lets go. Every inhibition between the two is stripped away and Gyllenhaal and Hathaway ease into the comfortableness of their naked bodies just as any real couple would after sharing intimate moments. They have an easy chemistry where you feel at times like you are invading their privacy by watching them on screen. It is the natural way they present themselves together that makes you actually care to see where their love affair will lead. As with any love story there is the complication. In Love and Other Drugs it is not merely a complication you can communicate through or learn to accept with time. Maggie has an incurable disease and there is no medication that will set her free from Parkinson’s Disease.
Jamie and Maggie are in two very different places in their lives. He is a rising star in the pharmaceutical sales field thanks to Viagra, the promise land of prescription drugs. While Maggie lives wondering whether she will be able to open a package of Pop Tarts in the morning. This casual affair should have ended before it ever began but call it fate, or circumstance, or being blinded by the idea of someone and not the reality but they try to make it work through the good and the bad. The film has an uncanny ability to blend together the free spirited nature of Maggie and Jamie’s relationship while building upon the struggles that threaten to tear them apart. It never disguises her disease, or makes light of the future that lies ahead for Maggie, and Jamie should he remain with her. The tone continues to change as they grow deeper in love and the likability towards the film begins to dissipate as the emotional toll grows heavy. Even as it changes from a fun romp to a serious dramatic piece you cannot help but see the importance in their love affair and how the touching moments they share will ultimately change who they both are forever.
Cast and Crew
- Director(s): Edward ZwickCharles RandolphScott Stuber
- Producer(s): Edward ZwickCharles RandolphEdward ZwickMarshall Herskovitz
- Screenwriter(s): Jake Gyllenhaal (Jamie Randall)Anne Hathaway (Maggie Murdock)Oliver Platt (Bruce Winston)
- Story: Hank Azaria (Dr. Stan Knight)
- Cast: Judy Greer (Cindy) Steven RosenblumSteven FierbergPatti Podesta
- Editor(s):
- Cinematographer: James Newton Howard
- Production Designer(s):
- Costume Designer:
- Casting Director(s):
- Music Score:
- Music Performed By:
- Country Of Origin: USA
