Love and Other Drugs (2010)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Dean !

  
  It wasn't quite the film I was expecting, thinking it would be just like most rom-coms churned out at the moment that are light hearted but have little depth. This does have more in-depth characters, the main star being Anne Hathaway's Maggie who at 26 has Parkinson's… More
  It wasn't quite the film I was expecting, thinking it would be just like most rom-coms churned out at the moment that are light hearted but have little depth. This does have more in-depth characters, the main star being Anne Hathaway's Maggie who at 26 has Parkinson's disease. It does have a few laughs along the way at the more light hearted moments. I was a bit surprised Anne Hathaway did a few nude scenes in this, but I'm not complaining. If you want a sexy, fun comedy with a bit more depth to the characters, this is prefect for you!

• Directors C

  
  [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon13.gif[/img] The main character is almost entirely unlikable and the laughs aren't frequent enough to maintain Love and Other Drugs as a sound romantic comedy. The performance by Hathaway was good enough but it's… More
  [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon13.gif[/img] The main character is almost entirely unlikable and the laughs aren't frequent enough to maintain Love and Other Drugs as a sound romantic comedy. The performance by Hathaway was good enough but it's the work behind the camera that wasn't that great. The direction is flimsy and the premise is quite simply dull.

• Thomas J

  
  Living with Multiple Sclerosis gave me an inescapable insight to the character Maggie, that I felt more with this movie than most. I was more than a love story to me. Jake Gyllenhaal's lack of clothing in scenes just made it that much better for me! lol

• Dead A

  
  A movie without sex and nudity is unthinkable to the most producers... tsk tsk. The story was touching though.

• Spencer S

  
  It tried so damn hard to be good. It had a lot of sweet natured sex and quaint humor. It had the royals of chemistry with no substance, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. Both have been naked together in the critically lauded Brokeback Mountain. Unlike that at least memorable film… More
  It tried so damn hard to be good. It had a lot of sweet natured sex and quaint humor. It had the royals of chemistry with no substance, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. Both have been naked together in the critically lauded Brokeback Mountain. Unlike that at least memorable film this one feels defeated by its want to please everyone. Not only is it determined to gain legions of fans with sex scenes and broad romantic comedy statements, but it tries to be deep, haunting, and brave, but it doesn't accomplish any of this. The first half is fun, which at least comes off sincere and good hearted. The second part, when we veer from understood camp and fun, is where it gets aimless. Hathaway is given the attribute of having Parkinsonâ(TM)s and the whole film simply revolves around their decision whether to be together or not. I don't fully believe their relationship when I watch. They seem so scared around each other, and each compensates with either nudity or a snippy line. The plot of the film works pretty well, not leaving anything out or plays into gross out humor or gender semantics, but the couple times it sucks, it sucks HARD. There are these moments between them which are silent except for this droning humming and a single tear. The speech at the end (which we all knew was coming) is blasà (C) at best, stigmatizing at worst. It's this misplaced folly among the rest of everything. I only wish they hadn't chosen something so atrociously depressing. Oh, and it's set in 1996, which isn't used as the setting because it furthers the plot or is important to the romance. This film is placed in that decade so it can be around the time Viagra comes out on the market. Most of this is ugly product placement for Pfizer, and though they also try to emphasize the struggles of being a doctor nothing bad happens to anyone who is a doctor, leading to an anticlimactic end. My God, that ending was horrific. They tie it up in a neat little bow and smile at you like they're not getting some sick thrill. In short, it's good to watch with a girlfriend, but otherwise run, run far and fast my friend.

• Clintus M

  
  This is a sweet romantic comedy/tragedy set in the volatile world of pharmaceutical sales. Unlike some critics, I think director Edward Zwick pulls of the tricky task of balancing all the elements: behind the scenes look at Big Pharm, love story, and potential "Love-Story"… More
  This is a sweet romantic comedy/tragedy set in the volatile world of pharmaceutical sales. Unlike some critics, I think director Edward Zwick pulls of the tricky task of balancing all the elements: behind the scenes look at Big Pharm, love story, and potential "Love-Story" like melodrama. I liked the two principal actors: Hathaway and Gyllenhaal had real chemistry. Some of the rest of the cast functioned mainly as comic relief. The topic of drug reps vying for doctors' business is treated hilariously; there's even a fistfight! It's a strange, complex scenario: The dawn of Viagra sales opens up new possibilities while one character's Parkinson's disease creates a battle between love and self-pity. Ultimately this film is never terribly heart-wrenching. Instead it holds out the promise of hope.

• Bethany M

  
  A really great romantic film! You don't expect the things to happen in the film if you haven't read the book and it throws you off guard and makes you feel really sad. The ending however is really heartwarming! Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway's chemistry is alight in… More
  A really great romantic film! You don't expect the things to happen in the film if you haven't read the book and it throws you off guard and makes you feel really sad. The ending however is really heartwarming! Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway's chemistry is alight in this film!

• Alice S

  
  Very, very surprised at how much I enjoyed this. Anne Hathaway has annoyed me ever since the deliberately edgy <i>Havoc</i> and <i>Rachel Getting Married</i>, but I daresay, like Keira Knightley, she's starting to reign in her naturally ebullient face and… More
  Very, very surprised at how much I enjoyed this. Anne Hathaway has annoyed me ever since the deliberately edgy <i>Havoc</i> and <i>Rachel Getting Married</i>, but I daresay, like Keira Knightley, she's starting to reign in her naturally ebullient face and work with different gazes and voice timbres. Every time I expected her to flash her mega-watt grin or start babbling pseudo-awkwardly (which worked in her younger roles), she stops and rebuilds the walls guarding her Parkinson's-afflicted character. The gravity surrounding her Parkinson's plot doesn't fully manifest itself until halfway through the movie, but it's done subtly so that Maggie's guttural scream after accidentally smashing her drink doesn't seem melodramatic. I've never heard that sound come out of Anne Hathaway before, and it was jarring but realistically so. The smarmy, cutthroat world of pharmaceutical sales is also an interesting backdrop to this drug-addled romance.

• Carlos M

  
  I disagree with the common feeling that this film does not know exactly what story it wants to tell. It is a decent romantic comedy that balances well its different plot elements, with a great chemistry between the leads and a very hot Jake Gyllenhaal almost naked in several scenes.

• Lewis C

  
  "I'm going to need you more than you need me." Love and Other Drugs is bi-polar. It gradually transitions from fun and light to melodramatic and deathly serious, and I can't say that it manages that switch completely successfully. Some people will prefer the sexy… More
  "I'm going to need you more than you need me." Love and Other Drugs is bi-polar. It gradually transitions from fun and light to melodramatic and deathly serious, and I can't say that it manages that switch completely successfully. Some people will prefer the sexy fun of the first half (like me), and others will find the more emotional latter half to be more involving (not like me), but I doubt most will equally enjoy both parts (I didn't). And one of the main characters is probably one of the most annoying ever written, and the movie would have automatically been about 10% better without him in it (has Josh Gad ever been even slightly funny in anything?). Other than that stuff, Love and Other Drugs is pretty decent. The characters are interesting and semi-realistic, it avoids being excessively sappy or predictable (at least, until the end), and Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway have chemistry coming out the wazoo. Love and Other Drugs could have been something awesome, but it fails to live up to its full potential by eventually giving in to the same worn tropes that 75% of the movies in this genre slavishly adhere to. It's still worth checking out if you're curious, though.

• Gregory D

  
  Definately a "chick flick." But Hathaway is sexy and heartfelt, Gyllenhaal is interesting and believable. Overall a very memorable, well acted film.

• Kase V

  
  As a film, 'Love and Other Drugs' is garbled mess of ideals and plot that never come together as perfectly as you'd like. As a romantic-comedy however, its actually enjoyable. This is in large part to the charismatic performance by Gyllenhaal, and a heartfelt one from… More
  As a film, 'Love and Other Drugs' is garbled mess of ideals and plot that never come together as perfectly as you'd like. As a romantic-comedy however, its actually enjoyable. This is in large part to the charismatic performance by Gyllenhaal, and a heartfelt one from Hathaway. They work pretty well together, even if the film can't decide exactly what sub-genre it wants to be a part of. In the end though, you generally had fun, but you wouldn't try it again.

• Cynthia S

  
  I really, really enjoyed this!! Funny. Romantic. Sweet. All the main ingredients important to me for the perfect chick flick. Wonderful!

• Nicki M

  
  Better than I would have expected. Not perfect, of course - I don't think I really believe that a player like Jamie would have decided to stay with Maggie - but it did make for a nice story, in spite of the illness aspect of it. Anne Hathaway here is actually very good. I am… More
  Better than I would have expected. Not perfect, of course - I don't think I really believe that a player like Jamie would have decided to stay with Maggie - but it did make for a nice story, in spite of the illness aspect of it. Anne Hathaway here is actually very good. I am not generally a huge fan, but even I found her attractive and likeable here. Jake Gyllenhaal also very well cast. Entertaining and interesting storyline.

• Dean M

  
  Director Edward Zwick makes films that feature big name stars and high production values. <i>Love & Other Drugs</i> is no exception, and the top cast and steamy sex scenes make this chick flick a cut above the generic brand - just like the pills Jake Gyllenhaal is… More
  Director Edward Zwick makes films that feature big name stars and high production values. <i>Love & Other Drugs</i> is no exception, and the top cast and steamy sex scenes make this chick flick a cut above the generic brand - just like the pills Jake Gyllenhaal is peddling. Based on Jamie Reidy's memoir <b>Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman</b>, this romantic-comedy is certainly a change of pace for Zwick. After spending the past decade on wide-screen actioners such as <i>Blood Diamond, Defiance</i> and <i>The Last Samurai</i>, the director returns to his old <i>30 Something</i> stomping ground, but he is not as adept at handling the emotional relationships as you would think. A film about the astonishing rise of Viagra is hard to resist. The comic potential is obvious, but by adding romance, a debilitating disease and numerous other sub-plots into the mix, the crux of the film is lost in a flurry of pill popping and naked flesh.

• Ken S

  
  Solid movie, good performances, great nudity.

• Jennifer X

  
  It's official - without the crutch of huge period set pieces or portentous, booming war music, the Oscar-grubbing, bravado-crushing Edward Zwick ("Defiance") has absolutely no idea how to make a movie. Case in point: his latest attempt at romantic comedy, the sloppy,… More
  It's official - without the crutch of huge period set pieces or portentous, booming war music, the Oscar-grubbing, bravado-crushing Edward Zwick ("Defiance") has absolutely no idea how to make a movie. Case in point: his latest attempt at romantic comedy, the sloppy, sticky "Love and Other Drugs." Based on the bestselling memoir of Viagra drug rep Jamie Reidy, "Love" is a bipolar disorder waiting to happen - a sex comedy about a womanizing Pfizer salesman (Jake Gyllenhaal, "Brokeback Mountain") that transmogrifies into a PSA about Parkinson's disease. This mutation begins Anne Hathaway ("Rachel Getting Married") comes into the picture, playing Maggie, a freeloving Manic Pixie Dream Girl with a crippling disease that gradually eats away at the crux of the storyline, tremor by tremor. Films generally have a natural rhythm, a beat that carries them through strands of dialogue and scene changes with relative ease. This rhythm is exceptionally important in films with relatively little substance, i.e. romantic comedies, which need to balance out the rom from the com so that one doesn't swallow up the other in magnitude. But this isn't a problem for "Love and Other Drugs" - as it schizophrenically stutters through, it becomes increasingly clear that the film has none on both fronts anyway. If "Love" is a slapstick sex comedy about Viagra, then why is it so unfunny? There are not one, not two, but three awkward, unattractive sidekicks (Oliver Platt of "2012," Hank Azaria of "The Simpsons Movie" and Josh Gad of "21," respectively) pawing at Gyllenhaal like puppies, throwing off lame penis jokes like ping-pong balls. When Zwick has exhausted his various references to erections and genitalia, he resorts to showing camera shots of actual erections and genitalia. This does not really lighten the mood. But if "Love" is a Lifetime movie about Parkinson's disease, then why is it so emotionally vacant? Jamie never comprehends what Parkinson's actually is, as he stares straight past Maggie's blatantly shaking hands as she attempts to pick up her pills. The climax consists of a really obvious close-up into their tearstained faces while a husky-voiced Nina Simone in training wails in the background. Melodrama is fine in certain instances, but "Love" turns from funny to sad in a shift so overblown that it doesn't resemble soap as it does really disgusting, mushy goop. None of this is helped by the fact that Zwick doesn't seem to have the slightest clue how to showcase simple human emotions. For him, love and mutual attraction equals filming lots and lots (and lots) of sex scenes. Jamie and Maggie don't talk to each other. They don't flirt with each other. Hell, they don't even look at each other for the most part, unless they're ripping off each other's clothes to have more sex. Three-quarters into the movie, Jamie starts hyperventilating uncontrollably and admits to the dumbstruck Maggie that he loves her. "I've never said that to anyone before," he gasps. This is the first time they've ever spoken to each other with their clothes on for more than 30 seconds, so count us among the surprised as well. But thankfully, Gyllenhaal and Hathaway possess just enough natural chemistry to make their characters believable. Even if the majority of the time their "performances" consist of tangling their naked bodies together and making really loud sex sounds, they sparkle. With his delightfully rakish hair and lopsided smile crinkling up to his half-moon eyebrows, Gyllenhaal charms with a Clooney-esque role in a decidedly not Clooney-esque movie. Hathaway, fresh off a Best Actress nomination from "Rachel Getting Married," emotes a ragged sensuality that hints at more depth than Zwick tries to give us. Together, they've got the instincts to make magic in an otherwise flaccid movie. And after they brush the stench of "Love" off their collective shoulders, they need to make another movie together, stat. Or at least hook up in real life. "Love and Other Drugs" is living proof that Zwick needs to stick to making films about Nazis or blood diamonds or basically whatever the hell doesn't have a female marketing extravaganza prestamped in the title. It takes good acting to push through suffocatingly affected dialogue and a director who has no idea how normal human beings interact with each other, and Gyllenhaal and Hathaway certainly do their best. But the fact of the matter remains: "Love" can't be saved - not by them, not by love and not by drugs.

• Raymond W

  
  Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway are absolutely amazing in this refreshing adult comedy. It was intriguing, pulled me in and got me attached to the characters. Overall, very well done, with superb acting. A pleasure to watch.

• Chris W

  
  This is an atypical film for Edward Zwick (well, from what films of his I've seen), so the less than compelling direction can be forgiven, but there are some great moments here. Where this film really succeeds is with the casting and the performances. The two leads are great… More
  This is an atypical film for Edward Zwick (well, from what films of his I've seen), so the less than compelling direction can be forgiven, but there are some great moments here. Where this film really succeeds is with the casting and the performances. The two leads are great (especially Hathaway), believable, and have good chemistry together. Both are well rounded and interesting. The supporting cast is also quite strong. Hank Azaria, Oliver Platt, and Josh Gad are really fun to watch, and provide some of the really good laughs. I liked how this film was set in the mid-1990s and involved the pharmaceutical boom, specifically that of Viagra. It helped add something of interest to the tried and true formula rom-dram about too people who want to just keep things casual, but...well, darnit, they just can't. The story and script are a little weak though, but, like the direction, aren't so flawed that things are ruined. I enjoyed this a fair amount, and could probably see myself watching it again sometime perhaps, but in the end, without the performances, this is totally forgettable. With the performances, it's only a bit more memorable, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't give it a try.

• Daniel P

  
  I'm shocked to see what the critics said about this film. It opens strongly, the acting is excellent, and though it does get clunky and sentimental at the end, the story is a good one and the script (for the first half) is punchy. I think where it goes wrong is in the attempt to… More
  I'm shocked to see what the critics said about this film. It opens strongly, the acting is excellent, and though it does get clunky and sentimental at the end, the story is a good one and the script (for the first half) is punchy. I think where it goes wrong is in the attempt to balance the dark and disillusioned endings that some characters get with the optimistic and romantic endings the others do. The final 20 minutes could have wrapped up in five or less, and despite seeming clichéd, the ending would have worked. Better than it's given credit for, but just. Watch it on TV or an airplane sometime, it's a pleasurable distraction (though they'll probably cut out all the nudity...)

Read all 20 featured audience ratings