(20th Century Fox)
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, Josh Gad, Gabriel Macht
Love And Other Drugs is set in 1996, flashback to floral spring dresses and the classic dark shirts, when the world was a totally different place. It was before the era of long-lasting mojo aka Viagra! Unheard of!
Jamie Randall comes from a line of doctors but unfortunately for him, he had ADHD when he was younger and therefore, focus was lost on him. He quit studying medicine and has been a drifter ever since. His forte is bedding girls, however. He decides to make quick money; training to become a pharmaceutical sales agent with Pfizer. He is allotted a small town in Ohio to make his fortune and therein meets his match, the free-spirited Maggie, who only wants sex and not a relationship.
Lots of sex happens but our cinemas edit it out as usual but if you want to watch the movie for its story, it is actually quite moving; Gyllenhaal and Hathaway put on some very emotional performances, Hathaway especially.
Maggie has early-onset Parkinson’s, otherwise known as Stage 1 Parkinson’s. We get it why Maggie rejects love because she believes she will eventually become a liability. Jamie who has never cared for anybody else in his entire life sees himself loving Maggie, something he thought he could never do.
The film actually has a tinge of the ‘90s romantic comedy, which means we have the classic climatic moment where the couple breaks up for awhile. The whole movie is set in 1996 so no flash forward to the present which is refreshing because most movies have this, they live happily ever after 10 years on, kind of situation.There are flares of funny moments but it becomes more dramatic as Maggie’s Parkinson’s worsens. It is not a film about Parkinson’s but more about the kind of toll an illness has on a relationship, whether it is psychologically, emotionally or physically.
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