Love and Other Drugs (2010)

The last decade has seen a positive trend in romance films. Instead of the insipid, paint-by-numbers rom-coms of the 90s, the new millennium sees filmmakers working hard to create an even weirder hybrid- the rom-dramedy. It is, thankfully, no longer acceptable for a romance to just be serious or just be goofy. The problem is that very few filmmakers have figured out how to make this new balance work. Such is the case with this film.

In 1996, Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) sees his budding career as an electronics salesman evaporate after getting caught having sex with his boss’s girlfriend. His well-to-do brother hooks him up with a job at Pfizer as a pharmaceutical salesman. Through his natural charisma and the tutelage of his regional manager (Oliver Platt), Jamie masters the art of wooing receptionists and sweet talking doctors into prescribing Zoloft and Zithromax.

Life throws Jamie a curveball when he meets Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway), an early onset Parkinson’s patient. She is reluctant to enter into a serious relationship with anyone due to her illness but Jamie works his charm on her. Maggie reciprocates by exposing Jamie to the other side of the pharmaceutical rat race, as she helps senior citizens make periodic trips to Canada to purchase cheaper prescription drugs. Jamie finds himself conflicted, especially after Pfizer’s release of Viagra makes him one of the top sellers in the company.

There are a number of good things going on in this film. You catch a glimpse of the cutthroat and unscrupulous (though oftentimes amusing) world of Big Pharma sales. On the flipside, you see the unfortunate side effects to all the patents, research, and marketing expenses- these new miracle drugs are so expensive that those who need it most cannot afford it. Then there’s the love story between a woman with heart-breaking condition and a man with every reason to avoid dating her. Sounds like a lot, right? Well, it is.

Love and Other Drugs is partly based on the book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman. It’s one of those clever insider exposés that kept the book industry afloat between Harry Potter, Twilight and Dan Brown books over the past decade. The whole romance aspect is made up to make the story more appealing, which is certainly an accomplishment. Knowing this fact almost makes me think better of this film. Almost. Individually, I like each component of this film. As a collective whole, Love and Other Drugs is an uncomfortable and borderline boring experience.

Both of the film’s young stars perform well. Gyllenhaal exudes the Generation X slacker lifestyle with ease and it’s clear that Hathaway did her homework when it comes to Parkinson’s symptoms. She’s never over-the-top spastic but also never makes the life of such a person look easy. It’s not so much the characters but the performances of them that keep you interested in the film.

In reality, Jamie Randall is the kind of cocky, successful creep that nobody likes, let alone falls in love with. Sure, he may be cute and charming but he leads a hollow life. This is addressed in the film as his relationship with Maggie grows. Maggie, on the other hand, is an enigma. She’s willing to throw her body around for sex before the grip of Parkinson’s gets the better of her but she refuses to let anyone get close to her emotionally. I can understand not wanting to let someone get attached to you because eventually they’ll be more of a caregiver than a partner, but her lifestyle strikes me as self-destructive. You never get a sense for where or how this attitude developed, leaving her side of the story incomplete.

The first half of the film is witty, sleazy and everything you would expect from a snarky insider story. How much of the sales trade is played up for show is unclear, but it’s enough to keep you from supporting Jamie’s line of work. Jamie grows on you though, so you all but come to accept it as an extension of him. Then the second half of the film kills the party. Maggie’s life makes things serious and gloomy and it almost feels unnatural when Jamie begins to turn on a profession that offers him a generous paycheck and access to all kinds of top-of-the-line medicines.

Then there are the little details- the factual errors that drive me crazy and cost a notch or two on the rating scale. The film opens in 1996 with Jamie working in an electronics store. He’s trying to sell a couple of girls on a boombox that clearly belongs in the 80s. It also happens to be blasting out a Spin Doctors tune three or four years past its prime. The store also contains a few products that didn’t exist yet (widescreen flat panel TV’s and slim digital cameras- really?). They might as well have tossed a copy of Grays Sports Almanac in for good measure. Most people will totally miss this but you’ll definitely be asking yourself how Maggie can afford such a spacious, albeit rundown, studio apartment on waitress wages.

The good news is that Love and Other Drugs has decided to be a grown-up romantic comedy. The bad news is that it still hasn’t decided what it wants to be as a grown-up romantic comedy. This leaves the audience to question a lot of the filmmakers’ decisions, which is never a good thing. If you want to be a story about a slacker salesman who mellows out after finding the right woman, fine- tell that story. If you’d rather be a story about a guy who falls in love with a woman despite her failing health, fine- tell that story. Trying to do both at the same time simply doesn’t work.

RATING: 2.25 out of 5