ralph25911

(2012-05-01 02:50:46)

Movie so worth the money!

I was rather sceptical when it was released but having seen the trailerthought I should give it a chance and was I right in doing so! It wasso thoroughly enjoyable from the very start I couldn't believe it. JakeGyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway the modern day leading actors, of coursewho take their eyes off either actors nude romps through the film?Neither me or the company I was with. It was an excellent time had byall present. Jake Gyllenhaal seems to play a diversity of charactersit's unbelievable how pliable he is, and Ms Hathaway - equallymarvellous indeed. Their presence burst on screen like fireworksagainst a night sky.Exceptionally breathtaking!

estebangonzalez10

(2012-04-30 18:05:58)

My Review: Love and Other Drugs

¨I don't know – you meet thousands of people and none of them reallytouch you. And then you meet that one person and your life is changed.¨Love and Other Drugs is not a great film, but it is much better thanmost romantic comedies that have come out lately. I don't know if youcan call this a rom-com, it is much more dramatic and the comedy isleft mostly for the supporting characters. Jake Gyllenhaal and AnneHathaway are both great actors and they have excellent chemistrytogether. They've worked together in the past when they played a couplein Brokeback Mountain, but this was a different type of film. The moviedoesn't just focus on the romance and comedy, it also tries to tell thehistory of how Viagra became such a hit in the 90's for the Pfizerpharmaceutical industry. It's in trying to balance these two separatestories that the film fails to connect with audiences in a higher leveldue to the time constraints of the film. We don't have enough time toconcentrate on either the drama or the romance and everything seems tolead to nowhere. It's as if they tried to make two separate movies. Thefilm is loosely based on Jamie Reidy's book ¨Hard Sell: The Evolutionof a Viagra Salesman.¨ The part that's based on the book is the historyof the blue pill. The romantic side of the story was added by thescreenwriters, among them director: Edward Zwick (known for Glory,Legends of the Fall, and Blood Diamond). The romantic story isengaging, as is the dramatic side which in a way shows how corrupt thepharmaceutical system can be. It's just not about saving people's livesanymore, it's about making a profit. That is why pharmaceuticalcompanies spend so much money on a performance enhancing drug insteadof trying to discover cures for Parkinson disease, which is a lot lessdemanding.Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a charming young man who alwaysseems to get his way with the ladies. He's not searching for arelationship or anything serious, he just wants to have a good time andthe females aren't making his task any harder. Jamie worked as asalesman at an electronic store and he was pretty good at it thanks tohis charm, but his trouble with the ladies gets him fired after hesleeps with the manager's girlfriend. Jamie has no trouble at allfinding a new job and he soon ends up working as a sales representativefor Pfizer trying to convince doctors to recommend their medicine overother pharmaceutical companies. Apparently Pfizer wasn't that bigbefore Viagra, so they were having a hard time making it in the market.Jamie's selling partner is Bruce (played by the very funny OliverPlatt) and together they dream of selling enough in order to getrecommended for a bigger market like Chicago. Jamie begins to use hischarm with the secretaries and receptionists in order to getappointment with doctors. One of his biggest clients is Dr. Stan Knight(Hank Azaria) who allows him one day to stick with him at the clinicwhere he meets one of his patients: Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway). Shesuffers from stage one of Parkinson disease and knows everything thereis to know about pharmaceuticals. Jamie becomes obsessed over her andthey soon begin a physical relationship without any of them wanting tobecome attached to each other. Jamie because he's a womanizer andMaggie because she feels sorry for herself and has built an emotionalwall over her in order to prevent getting hurt by love. At first thedeal works well for both of them, but over time emotions begin to getin the way.The romantic story is actually pretty believable and it feels real.Gyllenhaal and Hathaway have great chemistry together. There is a lotof nudity in this film and it isn't your typical rom-com. It tries tobe more raw and real, but I wasn't too engaged with the story. Therewas just too much going on without anything actually happing. When thestory seems like it's going to focus on the relationship between bothcharacters it jumps to the history of Viagra, and when it seems to getserious and focus on how corrupt the medical system has become (thereis a particular scene where Dr. Knight tells Jamie that he got intomedicine to save lives, but now the system has got to him) then itjumps back to the romantic side all over again. The highlight of thismovie are the performances from both lead characters. The secondarycharacters are really all not that important and they never aredeveloped very well. They seem to be there for the comedic scenes only,while the leads are in it for the dramatic roles. Jamie and Maggie arethe only characters who are really developed in this story. Overall thefilm gave me the feeling that it could have been so much better, butthey just didn't manage to balance the drama with the romance wellenough. They tried to make two separate movie into one and it didn'twork. I would recommend this for the strong lead performances only.http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/

(2012-04-30 12:07:29)

Anne Went Hathaway

She didn't have lower her standards (again) to perform nude. There is more nudity from Ms. Hathaway in this otherwise acceptable film than she has ever done. "Havoc" found her 'getting her raunch on' for the first time (which some called brave, seeing as she was completely inexperienced in real life at that time). Then of course she bared herself in the 'gay interest' movie "Brokeback Mountain". Now comes "Love & Other Drugs," in which she plays out a romance with Jake Gyllenhaal. There are numerous nude scenes, and I was struck by how cavalier Ms. Hathaway plays these scenes. It was almost as if she was truly flaunting it in a way very unbecoming of a serious young actress. I can't recommend this movie unless you are able to see an edited version.

Diwali-Jumbonads

(2012-04-29 20:07:42)

Not a bad movie

But are really the second generation Americans in the pharmaceuticalsales like haU the characters are portrayed?The romance between thehero and heroine is good,the locations and songs also.It's a differentfilm and has it's good moments of comic relief.The actors accentscertainly don't saUnd English.It would have been more natural andrealistic had it been so.WaI do the Bollywood filmmakers dothis?Clayburgh's costumes were good and her character is toointense.And the lyrics of the songs are good.Gyllenhaal has donejustice to his role and George Segal in a small cameo appearance lookslike a geek.The family laIf portrayed is really warm.From,Diwali.

(2012-04-29 07:58:08)

Could have been an awards contender

I think it is a shame. The storyline was very deep and the twists inthe film, magnificent. The acting was good and just seemed like a filmthat would be Oscar worthy. Now here is the problem. The film veered,in and out, from a dramatic effort to high school/college fratboyhumor. This was lethal for the esteem of this film. Humor would havebeen fine but the over the top humor that this film resorted , did notfit the sensitive, serious nature of the film. The basic premise of thefilm was a womanizing,goofball pharmaceutical salesman falling in lovewith a young lady with some issues. I will leave this vague. I thoughtit was a creative , refreshing effort but the sellout to the fratboyhumor I alluded, took this film from extraordinary to ordinary.

Bruce L. Jones

(2012-04-28 19:48:31)

A Grown Up Love Story

I admittedly had an inkling of what this was going to be about beforegoing in. The trailers give enough away for that. I wanted to see thismovie because I thought that, a) it would be fun, and b) it might havesomething to say worth hearing. Both turned out to be true.The premise is simple enough, young man who seems to be constantly onthe make meets a sort of kindred spirit; or is she? This is a modernstory in a number of senses of the word. Yes, it does involve thesubject of sex and male/female relationships in a frank, modern way.But for me this went further. It made a deeper foray into the psyche ofboth of the lead characters in a way that surprised me for a filmputting itself out there as some sort of romantic comedy. Yes, thereare certainly comic moments to spare and yes, there are open, modernrelationships laid bare to fully appreciate; a kind of full ripeningmore mature kind of love than we usually see in such vehicles.Both characters are shadowed by an almost blatant kind of intelligence,so their involvement gets more interesting than most (besides, any girlwho keeps an engine lathe in her bedroom certainly draws my interest)as they begin to fillet each other down to the bare essentials - andtheir bare essentials are very bare and particularly lovely. As mostfilms do, they try to find a way to inject some sort of conflict to"make it more interesting". I don't think that was necessary here. Inreal life, a relationship with their blatantly terrible challengessimply surviving is harrowing enough (I know as I've been down thatroad more than once).The lead characters do give more than just a certain life, a way ofwanting them to succeed, to find a way to be in each other's grasp. Theman, Jamie Randall, quite ably portrayed by the perpetually handsomeJake Gyllenhaal, is a study the type. Young, arrogant, nice looking andnot a care in the world. Not a care, that is, until he meets MaggieMurdock, a character infused with life, beautifully animated by thealluring Anne Hathaway. They bring terrific performances, every bitringing true, to their characters. It was great to watch them developand it was very pleasurable to watch their on-screen "chemistry".I have to say that whoever staged the "together times" and love-scenesdid an over the top job. Not for blatant sexuality or any kind ofartistically displayed steaminess, but for a greater sense of realitythat I've seen in almost any other film. I completely bought them as acouple, their little joys and affections with each other joyful towatch. The later manufactured conflict does nothing to diminish thatchemistry and few actresses at any time have ever looked lovelier.The principals managed to carry this off and, at the same time, givedignity and concern to a very real, terrible disease and explore someof very real problems such diseases leave in their wake and the veryreal people who must live with them.Of course, there were a number of other performances fleshing out thestory. That list is headed by Josh Gad as Gyllenhaal's brother, ahapless nerdy type who invites himself to stay for a while. Not to beoutdone was a fine performance by Oliver Platt as Gyllenhaal's businessassociate and the equally good Hank Azaria as a doctor who becomesfriendly with Gyllenhaal. Others such as Judy Greer, Jill Clayburgh(who just recently passed away in what is now her next to last film)and George Segal added depth to the surroundings, especially Platt whois always fun to watch with an added prize for "playing-it-straight"going to Teri Clark as an ER receptionist.All-in-all a night of entertainment worth the price of admission inspades.By Bruce L. Jones http://webpages.charter.net/bruce.jones1/

(2012-04-28 06:59:55)

Bravo !!!!!

First of all lets consider the theme here, and then decide if you will like it. There are 2 camps here and if you don't chuckle at the thought of a good looking guy making a living off selling Viagra the movie is probably not for you. On the other hand if this gets you laughing - its brilliant.I must add that the movie is much more. It goes beyond this into a deep caring relationship - and even if the former is not your tea the ending and character transformations should turn you around. Brilliant movie.

(2012-04-27 16:07:04)

Love and Other Drugs

Really enjoyed this movie! Watching it, we really felt part of it, like they were close friends of ours who deserved our support during their trials and tribulations! The story started well, held our attention the whole time, and although we knew how it would probably end, we loved how it got there! we will watch it again and again in the future.

(2012-04-27 13:01:48)

Interesting look at early onset Parkinson's Diseas

Not a great movie, but interesting if you' re looking to start learning about this horrible disease. My book 'On/Off - A Jekyll & Hyde Story' has some details that might explain Maggie's seemingly hyper sex drive. You can get a Kindle copy for 99 cents here:On/Off - A Jekyll and Hyde Story

(2012-04-27 00:43:01)

Not what I was hoping for.

REnted this the other weekend and I have to say, I'm sorry I did. It was totally not what I was expecting. It did have some "stupid" funny parts, but both of the main characters are capable of so much better. And I NEVER expected to see Anne Hathaway naked in almost every scene. It was ridiculous and very much unncessary in my opinion. Basically all her character and Jake's did was have sex...ENOUGH! We get it...they do it ALOT! Next scene please.This movie felt choppy, like alot was edited out, I don't know how else to explain it. It didn't flow from scene to scene smoothly. It realy didn't explain why it was set in 1996...I know why b/c of the drug Viagra, butI just kept waiting for the "14 yrs later" to pop up on the screen...it never did.The disguesting brother that lived with Jake, just unncessary...when Jake caught him watching the "homemade movie" they had made was just disgusting, not even funny, just plain disturbing!My husband enjoyed this movie...again, probably b/c of the boobs shown in every scene, but I certainly did not enjoy it. Hated the ending as well.Skip this one...or at the very least rent it for VERY VERY cheap!

(2012-04-22 18:02:16)

love and other drugs

damn good movie was suprised how much i really enjoyed this film.you could definetely feel for the characters and the problems they faced with parkinsons desease.but also had many funny moments in the movie as well that made me laugh.you have to check this one out was really impressed

(2012-04-22 10:48:41)

Ugh!

This review is from: Love & Other Drugs [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) A bad version of Love Story. It must have been painful to even have to say some of the lines that were written. I never knew where the story was going or where it had been. Locations, time line, connections to previous events, disjointed, all a mess. It seemed to go on forever. And I actually like both of the actors in the film but it was a bad version of an wannabe ok story. How does it end, anyway?

TheUnknown837-1

(2012-04-22 14:54:41)

Ideal casting overwhelmed and undermined by all the crude debris that seems attached to every comedy with an R rating

"Love and Other Drugs" is a prime example of how Hollywood's heedingthe call of the marketplace frequently overwhelms and destroys many oftheir potentially fine products. The leads in this romantic comedy areJake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, two of the most attractive andtalented and beguiling movie stars in contemporary American cinema -two stars who actually deserve to be stars. Putting them in a romanticcomedy (or a romantic film of any kind) together was an inspiredchoice, but what was not was the decision of the studio, directorEdward Zwick and his two co-screenwriters (Charles Randolph andMarshall Herskovitz) to pump up the MPAA rating to an R where it wouldhave been much better staying at a G or a PG-13 at the most. For that Rrating comes with all the unnecessary, unfunny, uninteresting debristhat we have been assaulted with by R-rated romantic comedies for thebetter part of a decade, if not longer. Has it been longer? The storywas one I had hopes for. The three screenwriters based their plot onthe nonfiction book "Hard Sell" by Jamie Reidy, about his experiencesas a pharmaceutics salesman. The setting is just before the eruption ofViagra on the marketplace, and Mr. Reidy is more or less represented byMr. Gyllenhaal as a struggling salesman. Using clever and deviousmethods (his believable charm) Mr. Gyllenhaal manages to get into thesame room as a beautiful and peppy young woman (Miss Hathaway) duringher physical. What follows is predictable dialogue exchanges andcountless moments of them sweating the sheets, or whatever piece ofarchitecture they happen to be around at the time(s). But as you wouldexpect, about midway through, their initially without-strings-attachedsexual adventures begins to deepen and develop into something morepassionate. Before long, they're no longer having sex and crying awhole lot more often. And the sad thing is that these latter parts arereally the best moments of the picture.The second half of the movie is much better than the first. Becausehere it develops into the movie that it should have been: a pure,goodhearted drama. Frankly, that's what I would have preferred thewhole movie to be. Because when they are being strictly romantic witheach other, Mr. Gyllenhall and Miss Hathaway are absolutelyintoxicating. The big twist that wrinkles the third act is that MissHathaway's character has slowly-worsening Parkinson's and it isthreatening to ruin their relationship. And when the two of them say "Ilove you" to each other, I wholeheartedly bought it. It was here thatthe two stars had found the screenplay they deserved to sign onto. Ontop of that, the director, Mr. Zwick, should have realized that histalents were more deserving of a film of this sort. Previously, he made"Blood Diamond" and "Defiance," a picture which I enjoyed very much.Serious, down-to-earth movies about real subjects. Does this mean heshould never make romantic comedies? Not at all, but should he had goneso low as to make one of such a crude sort? Not the nonsense that camebefore.Since it is an R-rated romantic comedy, the first half of the moviecomes packed with all the wallopingly boring and unneeded R-ratedcomedy junk that has exhausted me for so long. The gratuitous nudity,the sex scenes so large in number that it was hard to keep track, theoveruse of four-letter language (particularly the F-bomb), and theobnoxious characters. For once, couldn't we have an obligatorysecondary character who is not repulsive? This time Josh Gad gets theembarrassing role of the younger brother high on calories and short ona sex life, who enjoys masturbating to pornography and his oldersibling's sex tapes. Talented as he is, Mr. Gad is absolutely revoltingand his part is just barely more memorable than the one he had as JimSturgess's friend in the horrifyingly dull "21" released back in 2008.Why couldn't there have been more of Oliver Platt as a salesman teamleader, who is very energetic and entertaining, and less of the dumb,overused subplot of a jealous ex and rival, this time given to GabrielMacht. My only compliment on this subplot is the filmmakers' apparentblunder of letting it disappear unexpectedly near the third act.Or perhaps they were starting to realize their mistake? Sadly, "Loveand Other Drugs" just uses the R-comedy debris to the point ofoverkill. After a while, all of the gratuitous sex and nudity scenesbecame really tiring. When a picture takes a subject like sex andtreats it more as the private and beautiful thing that it really is,then the power (and potential comedy) increases dynamically. Again,another reason why this movie's rating should have been aimed lower.And while the third act did move me, sometimes quite deeply, there wasjust so much third-rate junk beforehand that the picture left mefeeling empty and unimpressed by the end. I really hope that somedayMr. Gyllenhaal and Miss Hathaway reteam again, only this time focusingon a stronger story (hopefully a more serious one?) and go for moreheart than cheap gags.In other words, less nudity, less sex, less masturbation, less F-bombs.

Bill Anderson

(2012-04-21 20:41:32)

A Big Yes

Dang. I feel kind of shell shocked. Sad and lovely and beautiful. Greatwork by Anne and Jake. Wonderful story. Anne is so unselfconsciouslycourageous and it's not just the nudity. She really opens herselfemotionally to play this part. This is Oscar worthy stuff. If yourheart is not made of stone you will love this movie. Sure there is alittle silliness once in a while, thank goodness. Otherwise we mightget too depressed knowing the fate of this beautiful, wise and uniqueyoung woman and of two people who don't think they are worthy of reallove. I give a big yes for hope, love and redemption and Love and OtherDrugs.

dierregi

(2012-04-12 17:16:52)

Not much love, but plenty of mindless sex

Much as I like Anne Hathaway, who is gorgeous and a good actress,trying to break free from stereotyped girlfriend roles, I found thismovie a manipulative mess. It is supposed to have a slightly dramaticbackground, involving serious illnesses and the misdeeds of thepharmaceutical industry, but it turn out as a limp comedy of some sort.Both main characters are as unsympathetic as they could be. At least, Ifound them chilling as human beings: the Jake's character is a shallow,serial womanizer, and also a Viagra pusher. The Anne's character isselfish, rude and swallowing in self-pity. Both claim not to have eversaid "I love you" to another living creature. Such an achievement… Theyget involved in having casual sex, and they have plenty of it. In fact,so much that the movie gets boring. It is unfortunate that two giftedand very good-looking actors cannot conjure any real thrill orchemistry, even if their stunning naked bodies are often in displays invarious coupling positions.The plot involves also Jake's brother, as a repulsive, half-wit, greedycharacter who was dumped by his wife and has to shack up with Jack andsome equally greedy doctors and employees in the pharmaceutical field.Everything wrapped up with plenty of nudity in display, vulgar speechand bad taste jokes, as it is unfortunately the norm in most so-calledcomedies.I guess the audience is supposed to sympathize with poor, young Anne,so incurably (but not terminally) sick, but her character is so fakeand selfish that the task of feeling sorry for her is impossible.Besides, only in movies sick people want "to be left alone". That issuch a cliché I truly wish it was outlawed from movies. I seriouslydoubt any sick person wants "to be left alone". Sickness impliesfragility and the need for help. Of course there might be exceptions.However, only in movies loneliness seems to be the rule for the sick.Definitely not recommended.

(2012-04-12 03:54:08)

DVD

This review is from: Love & Other Drugs (DVD) I enjoyed the movie very much, has humor, love, happiness and rolls it all into one movie. I love the actors and found the movie very entertaining.

True Art

(2012-03-27 20:04:53)

It blends genres and emotions and it works.

This is what happens when filmmakers ferment like a fine wine. They lettheir art breathe and only by doing so can it come to life, often in aform not originally envisioned. Ed Zwick knows how to ringmaster, inthis case as insiders know, listening to Anne Hathaway's interpretationof her character and letting her run with it. As Maggie, aspunky-bright woman dealing with prescription drug addiction, sheencounters Jamie (Gyllenhaal), a charismatic seductive salesman whomMaggie tags immediately ... and allows him to sell her -- mainly wildand vigorous sex. We soon learn her drugs are used not for recreation,but to subdue a serious condition we find out later. As a result, shehas erected an emotional wall by using detached sex as cover ...insisting never to seriously get involved with Jamie. The supportingcast is flawless, zipping in and out as the film segues betweenslapstick comedy, light romantic comedy to drama ... organicallyinterweaving plot and character twists and building to a wallopingcrescendo. For writers and directors, you know how delicate it is tobalance light with darkness and these guys appear to do it effortlesslyand at breakneck speed, the moment you feel a tear coming on ... boom,comic relief. There are some humdinger belly laughs and heartfeltspeeches and they feel holistic to the script and film, unforced andbrilliant, as is the supporting cast and score. My gosh, my first ravereview since Temple Grandin!

FTJinvestor

(2012-03-27 06:13:22)

Sweet November Knockoff

First off, my wife and I are in our mid twenties, and are not by any means old fashioned, we digress...There is about 10 sex scenes, a predictable storyline, and non-believable acting. With that being said, it is a waste of money. The only positive the movie had was some funny, off the cuff remarks.If you want to watch a movie with true love, romance, soul searching, and heartache, rent the movie Sweet November with Charlese Theron and Keanu Reeves. The storyline is very similar but protrayed with class, unlike this trashy big named actor/ess film.If anything, this movie shows you a glimpse of what movies have become and where our society is going.

famdoc-3

(2012-03-26 06:00:06)

Tired, old manipulative plot

Hard-partying, emotionally-detached man meets sensitive, artist womanwith fatal disease. They fall in love. They fall out of love. Will mancome to his senses? Will woman allow herself to feel love despitedownhill course of disease? Will the sappy music ever stop? Will wekeep watching this dreck? Will attractive people getting undressed andhaving sex keep our attention? You know all the answers to thesequestions, as this film is just a rehash of dozens that came before it.The film raises, without subtlety, some questions society needs toconfront: the role of the pharmaceutical industry in themedical-industrial complex, how we treat people with incurablediseases, how people with incurable diseases search for cures and whatto wear to a pajama party.Perhaps I should give this film more credit for avoiding flatulence, itnevertheless gives us a few laughs on the subject of erectiledysfunction and its cures, masturbation, three-way sex and internetporn. So original.

(2012-03-25 15:43:39)

Based on a true story that happened in Indianapolis.

Even better than I thought it might be... Kept my attention and entertained with a good story line, dialogue and acting. I'd like to own the DVD!