MOVIE REVIEW - Love And Other Drugs

The movies come early this week because of the holiday, and Love And Other Drugs is in the theaters.

LAOD stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, and a real strong supporting cast in the aptly rated R romantic comedy. At least that it appears to be a romantic comedy on the surface, but you need to dig deeper. It's more than just that. But it should be noted maybe again. This is a true R rated movie.

Meet Jamie (Gyllenhaal). He is a rep from a major drug company in the mid 1990's. He is a real ladies man, and now he's selling Viagra in it's early days. He is borderline out of control, until he meets Maggie (Hathaway). Maggie is a beautiful, quirky seemingly free spirit who is way off the beaten path. She is a mere 26 years old, and has stage one Parkinson's Disease, very rare for someone so young. She and Jamie start up this purely physical relationship that at first which is fine, but as life dictates....it's not really sustainable. Will they fall in love? Can Jamie accept Maggie's fate? Can Maggie let Jamie get close despite her illness? All good questions, and all a big part of LAOD.

There are some real fun moments in this movie. Nice characters that are clearly developed. And for the most part a story that you don't see every day. This is a movie you have to stick with too. It looks like a few times it's going off into the ditch, only to save itself at the last possible moment. Not all of this works. Some really stupid scenes mixed in with some really good ones, make it a bit inconsistent. There are a few too many characters mixed in. And at times this all gets a bit jumbled up, and bogged down.

But after you wade through a lot of ups and downs, LAOD comes together real nice near the end. It stops being what is. And becomes what it could be. Not many newer comedies have the guts to do that, but this does. A real nice finish with a big heart. This movie slowly leaves the silly comedy behind, and ushers in a nice mix of drama, realism, all the while being topical.

I'm not certain the major drug companies, the medical field, and a few other groups will find much humor here. This movie does paint these groups in a very dim light, and for a time does become slightly agenda laden, but it's not a deal breaker. Nice performances by all involved here. Our stars and our supporting cast, that includes, Oliver Platt, and Hank Azaria.

Love And Other Drugs. You have to hang with it but at the days end.... not perfect, but not bad either.