A formulaic romantic dramedy that at least offers a quality segment on Parkinson’s.
Despite very effective scenes devoted to Parkinson’s and, separately, a fair amount of nudity, LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS is little more than a typical, formulaic romantic comedy. It centers partly around Viagra’s debut and so is set in the 90’s, but otherwise comes across as little different from the world we live in today a decade-plus later. But its placement in that era also allows a cavalcade of 90’s one-hit wonders, thus fulfilling the mainstream rom com requirement of a buyable soundtrack. (Though the uninspired song choices and their constant reminder that it’s the 90’s annoys to no end.) The movie is based on Jamie Reidy's memoir "Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman.”
In a nutshell, Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a stud muffin specializing in getting laid. He uses this talent to his advantage first as an irritating electronics salesman, then as a pharmaceutical salesman. He meets Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway) when sleazy doctor Knight (Hank Azaria) actually permits him to join Dr. Knight’s consultation with her as a patient, during which time he sees Maggie’s exposed breast. (Sounds like a lawsuit to me.) Maggie is a “free spirit” – she loves her photography, lives in a pleasantly chaotic loft apartment, and – gasp! - speaks her mind. She struggles with an unusually early onset of Parkinson’s, and while she at first keeps her cards close to her chest because of it, James proves different from most men, and love and romance bloom.
Both Gyllenhaal and Hathaway have proven themselves fine actors before, and her excellent portrayal of a young person facing mortality had me wishing the film devoted more time to the subject. But instead of seducing us with his caddish charm, Gyllenhaal does little more than cause groans. And he’s rarely funny in this movie, so either Jake isn’t suited to play a superficial slut, or director Edward Zwick gave him a bad set of instructions. His kiss-ass, dancing-and-singing-with-the-customers routine at an electronics store is positively cringe-inducing.
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