Review: Love & Other Drugs

A curio by any other name, Love & Other Drugs is something of a departure for writer/director Ed Zwick. His love of the epic spills over into this would-be anti-rom-com come pharma industry critique. The film's structure is determined by rom-com genre rules but then he layers on top anti-capitalist moralising, disease of the week, farce and bromance.

The tonal shifts are frequent - and frequently jarring. And, let's be frank, this is cheese.

And yet the two leads, Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal have a genuinely believable chemistry and a level of realistic casual intimacy that lifts the film beyond the cheese and Zwick's misjudgments (lose the 'emotive' score please - the actors are that good so let them carry the scene!). Fo example, Gyllenhaal's failure to, er, rise to the occasion, their reactions to this shock, and Hathaway's subsequent coaxing of him is a first in a Hollywood film: the scene is comedic, tragic, dramatic and redemptive and flawlessly showcases the characters' psyches. Much has been made of Hathaway's nudity, but don't be misled: this is not Hollywood's princess going hardcore, more a refreshing case of casual nudity that new lovers are comfortable with (there's little of the 'let's shag each other's brains out and then I'll climb out of bed with the duvet covering me' nonsense). Nor do the sex scenes break new ground: we're not talking Brando and the butter here; there's only a hint of anything other than missionary; and while world cinema is increasingly pushing the boundaries of cinematic sex by making it as realistic as possible, Zwick falls back on soft focus/slow motion overly choreographed shame-induced pretence with one or two notable exceptions - the opening moments of the entirely lust-driven first tryst; and her orgasm the first time they 'make love'. Zwick is clearly not comfortable with approaching the levels that David Lynch, David Cronenberg and Julio Medem attain in eroticism and using sex as key part of character development.

The leads' Golden Globe noms are entirely justified: Gyllenhaal is by turns all charm and emotionally constipated; Hathaway, especially after Rachel Getting Married, is the go-to-gal for young women who live for the moment/are consumed by self-loathing. Her performance doesn't rely on Hoffman/de Niro-esque disease of the week tics.

It will be intriguing to see the deleted scenes on the DVD: the much talked about post-orgasmic stretch Hathaway enjoys would have added further understanding of her character's condition.

I don't deny the film had added impact for me because Hathaway's character is reminiscent of so many of my exes in all their glory.

I took a chance on this and it was worth it. If you’re expecting a cheesy rom-com, you’ll be challenged and disappointed. If you're a hardcore Hathaway fan, this is a must. If you’re intrigued by a bunch of mainstream talent misfiring on a would-be counter culture experimental subversion of mainstream norms, it is worth a shot. But I can't help feeling there is a more interesting, more challenging film to be found on the DVD; if there isn't, Zwick is just plain guilty of not trying hard enough. There is something to be said for a committed breakdown of mainstream movie norms, but here Zwick is just not committed enough.
Score: 6.5/10