Review of Love & Other Drugs (2010) by Rachael D — 11 Jan 2012

I'm really not sure what kind of category into which you would put "Love and Other Drugs". It could be comedy or drama or romance. Or it could be a mix of all three and it does it quite effectively. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Jamie Randall, the younger son of a successful doctor who has an amazing (depends on how you look at it) gift of being able to sell women on pretty much anything (including himself). After a handful of failed ventures he sets his sights on pharmaceutical sales with the giant Pfizer. In one of the doctor's offices he visits he finds himself entranced with a Parkinson's patient (Anne Hathaway) who continuously denies his advances. On the surface the two are complete opposites but as their emotional layers are peeled away they find very basic similarities. The invention of Viagra propels Randall's sales numbers but as his success grows their relationhip starts to suffer. He must choose between the high octane life as a salesman or a life with his girlfriend as her disease takes hold.

Hathaway and Gyllenhaal have excellent chemistry together which sustains throughout the movie especially as their on-screen relationship rollercoasters. Oliver Platt and Hank Azaria lend great supporting characters along the way as well. Josh Gad supplys the comedy which is both a good and bad thing as sometimes it just gets in the way of the plot. Overall it's a great mix of adult comedy and romance that takes you on an up and down ride much like the lead characters' relationship itself.