Love is a Hard Sell
Director: Edward Zwick
Release Date: Nov 24, 2010
Rated: R
Run Time: 113 mins
Genre: Romantic Comedy
One type of film I have never really been a big fan of over the years has been romantic comedies, More so because come on.... Romantic films of any sort just dont turn out very good when you are romantically challenged. But for my love of movies I do give them a shot to impress me with their mushy mush and laugh out loud moments.
This past week I found myself sitting in a theater with a (lady)friend and we happen to buy tickets to see Love & other drugs, in hopes to see some well....Things that the movie has been hyped around, In which case we also hoped it would bring some laughs and maybe something more.
Based off a book called "Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman" in which we find the rise of one man and the popularity of the miracle sex drug Viagra. This part of the movie caught me off guard a bit but it was a different story than i was expecting in a good way.
I must say It is one of the better romantic comedies i have seen in awhile. It may not be because of the character development and how much we know about Anne Hathaways character, Since we never really dive into her life it seems, We do find out she has Parkinson's disease and loves to mingle. But not much else is learned over the length of the film, But honestly I didnt care much about that as what Ann gave us in the screen time that she had, Was just enjoyable.
Of course the main reason I went to see the movie was for Anne's role in the film but I also was wondering how Jake Gyllenhaal would do as he has kind of been on a down slope as of late for me in film( Was not a big Prince of Persia fan and I failed to see Brothers as i heard mostly negative on it, Its on my to watch list however) but surprisingly Jake does a vibrant job as the slutty drug dealing playboy that he is. He plays Jamie Randall who cant manage to keep a job and to make matters worst his brother has struck it rich in life. But his brother has a connection to a company that is looking to make it big in the pharmaceutical business.
Right off the bat Jake does a solid job making you see how charming he is and how all the ladies just fall for him, but sure enough there has to be that One lady he just cant seem to trap. For a man that cant seem to find love...Love my just happen to find him.
Yeah so Love & Other Drugs is mostly just a Boy meets girl type of love story but deep down it has a bit more with the issues of true love winning out and taking care of some one you love, giving up things for love and well so on. It may not be my type of film but for some reason it hit the right spot for me, it might have been that viagra or it could have just been the great cast but something was done right.
Parkinson's disease is fairly known in the mainstream thanks in part to one of the best actors of my life time, Michael J. Fox, but still many people dont seem to know about the disease and how it can effect peoples lives even if they dont find themselves with the disease. This helped make the movie a step above other films in the genre in my opinion.
It has its flaws of course but i didnt mind over looking them and finding myself laughing at multiple jokes from different characters or at a moment in the film i realized i had a chill run down my spin. Anne hathaway has been nominated before for awards and i must say if she does not get a nod for her role in this I will be sad as she really shines.
In closing of this hard and yet quickie of a rant my final words to sell you hard on this movie(notice what I did there? yeah you did, didnt you?)
The movie might have some very cliche things in it but at the same time if you give any romantic comedy a first date this year, I really see no reason not to give Love & Other drugs a run at your heart.
