When I told my good friend in the US that I intended to review Love And Other Drugs, she said “ It’s a stupid film!” and like a true cynic gave me the reasons why; shall elaborate on those later on!Jamie played by Jake Gyllenhaal is a medical rep. One day he meets the beautiful Maggie ( Anne Hathaway) who is all smiles and ringlets, and is also suffering from the onset of Parkinson at the tender age of 26.
Set in the 1990’s a little prior to the Viagra boom, Gyllenhaal plays a kind of irritating salesman who uses his charm to sell his medications to the doctors by seducing their gullible assistants. Living in a sad little apartment in the Ohio Valley with a long term plan to relocate in Chicago, Jamie’s future takes an unpredictable turn when Maggie crashes into his life.
The two start a purely sexual relationship, agreeing that there will be no strings attached nor are they thinking on a long term basis. Surprisingly, there are quite a few explicit love scenes for an American film and perhaps, this is only a matter of opinion, but they add very little to the plot. True, it does enhance a certain sense of intimacy to the story, but the scenario is somewhat all over the place and it could even sound cliché to equate nudity with emotional closeness. Sadly, we are never absolutely sure if the film is a romantic comedy or something which will take a Love Story type of turn.
One of the crucial missing points in Love And Other Drugs was the unequal level of information provided about both the main characters.
Read moreJake’s family is briefly but well described. The viewers understand very quickly that his father (George Segal) is an eminent doctor who has one daughter following in his footsteps. His youngest son is an awkward software millionaire and Jamie the eldest has dropped out of medical school and often finds himself fired from his jobs because of his uncontrollable libido. Maggie on the other hand, we are totally clueless where she comes from or how she pays for her fabulous loft. We see her vaguely working at some arty coffee shop where she spends most of her time having sex with Jamie in the broom closet and the rest of the time, she takes senior citizens to Canada to buy cheaper drugs.
The best scene is the film is when Jamie meets another man at a Parkinson’s sufferers convention who tells him about the daily plight he endures with his wife who is in the final stages of the illness. The scene is simply filmed, just the way a conversation between two unknown beings would be and if a survey were to be taken and people were asked what they remembered from this film, my guess would be that it is this sequence.
The man basically tells Jamie in a very matter of fact and even kind way, to run before it is too late and suddenly one begins to feel and understand the hesitations a healthy person could have when getting into a deep and committed relationship with someone who is ill.
Love And Other Drugs is fabulously esthetic to watch especially thanks to its lead characters. So why did my friend hate it? Probably because it was too far removed from real life. Are there Prince Charmings willing to take on girlfriends with incurable illnesses who live in fantastic lofts and barely work eight hours a day? My answer would be “No”, but this is cinema and a free ticket to a world where happiness is possible whatever the circumstances.
The Sunday Leader - By Sumaya Samarasinghe
