Love as a Drug

Romantic comedies - I can never seem to get enough of them. No matter how lame or stupid or overly cutesy they are, I will always come back for more, and when I hear about a new romantic comedy that has come out, I always tend to be one of the first in line to see it. When I heard about Love and Other Drugs a couple of months ago, I knew that I wanted to see it. Sure, there was bound to be a fair amount of drama in it - the movie is about a woman with early-onset Parkinsons after all - but I could also see where the comedy came into the mix - her getting into a relationship with a sex-obsessed Viagra-dealing drug rep. The fact that the movie starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway only strengthened my resolve that I had to see it. And so, on one rather boring Sunday afternoon, I went to the CGV (yes, this was when I was back in Korea - the idea to review the movie for my blog only hit me now) with Jess and (I believe) Shaina and we sat down and prepared ourselves for a giggle- and sob-fest. We weren't disappointed.

From the moment that Jamie (Jake) meets Maggie (Anne) while pretending to be a doctor, you know that they are going to hook up, but you have no idea how since Maggie almost instantly realises the truth and seems repulsed by Jamie's audacity. And yet, even after Maggie practically beats him to within an inch of his life (OK, so I'm exaggerating, but only by a little), he still perseveres and they quickly end up together in a relationship based on lust and fueled by Maggie's scramble to live life to the fullest while she can.

The first half of the film is packed with one-liners that got me every time and had me in stitches for a large part of the movie. I thought that the writers were absolutely brilliant and played on the fragility and fun of the relationship very well. The fact that the movie had a large amount of nudity did surprise me quite a lot, as I had never really pictured Anne Hathaway as the type to go full-frontal for the camera, but as long as you go in there expecting it, it tends to add to the hilarity rather than take away from it, and the fact that a large part of the movie revolves around sex (what with Jamie's job being to sell Viagra and Maggie stipulating that their relationship should remain purely physical), it seems kind of appropriate. My favourite part of the movie was the list of puns that Maggie comes up with when Jake comes home to tell her about the new product that he is selling (Viagra). I wish that I could find a quote for this on the internet, but for some reason or another, there seems to be no account of it anywhere, If you watch the movie though, you will know exactly which part I am referring to.

The seriousness of the movie starts to set in around the halfway mark when Maggie's condition starts to deteriorate and their relationship starts becoming more serious, which is exactly what Maggie was trying to avoid. As she is forced to come to terms with the idea of living with Parkinsons and the idea of having to rely on someone else for the rest of her life, Jamie steps up to the plate and offers himself to her, just about giving up his job in order to help her find some kind of cure or preventative measure. This leads to their relationship falling to pieces, something that Maggie had predicted from the start. Of course, no romantic comedy would be complete without a happy ending, and this one is no exception. The happy ending is, in fact, what I believe keeps this movie classified as a romantic comedy, as without it, I think the movie could only be defined as a romance or a drama despite the comedic relief throughout the first half of the film.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Love and Other Drugs and would certainly recommend it as a girls-night or a couples movie, as there is something in it for everyone. As I said earlier, do be prepared for a large amount of nudity (I, personally, had no issue with oggling a naked Jake Gyllenhaal and I am sure many men will say the same of Anne Hathaway) and a fair amount of crude humour, but also be prepared for a fun-filled movie with a large splash of drama spread throughout.

My question for today (just for fun): Which actor/actress would you want to see doing a nude scene?