Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Jamie Randall in "Love and Other Drugs". Jamie is a pharmaceutical salesman who sells sex and Zoloft with equal zeal. A natural charmer, he is determined to take the pharmaceutical industry by storm and becomes increasing successful with the addition of Viagra to his drug rep portfolio.
Taking place in the 1990s, the film ridicules drug rep training and deceitful marketing schemes of pharmaceutical conglomerates, such as Pfizer. However, the tale of drug rep wars quickly gets confusing when a young Parkinson’s patient, Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway) encounters Jamie in her doctor’s office. What first starts off with a confrontation, quickly turns into passionate sex.
Maggie and Jamie screw around a get naked a lot before the discover that they truly care for each other. As the love story unfolds, a more serious subject matter of Maggie’s struggle with Parkinson's disease comes into light, transforming the tone of the film. Both Hathaway and Gyllenhaal deliver heartfelt performances, guiding film away from a pharmaceutical industry comedy towards a serious drama.
Unfortunately, the fluidity of the story gets muddied up with the introduction of Jamie’s brother Josh (Josh Gad), who is dropped off directly from a screw ball comedy. Josh’s unpleasant appearance and odd behavior trivialize the weight the film.
The more distracting the screenplay gets, the more challenges face film director Edward Zwick. A talented filmmaker, he defies the screenplay’s faults by zooming in on individual love scenes and powerful portrayals of people with Parkinson's. At the end, the endearing and beautiful speech of Anne Hathaway turns this confusing comedy into a tear jerker.
Watching this film felt like being on a roller coaster. With the exception of Josh Gad’s frivolous appearance, it was entertaining and engaging.
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