'Love and Other Drugs' — 2 out of 5 stars
When going to a chick flick, the audience expects to be "awwing" at cute lines. And, occasionally, the right romantic scene will cause some sniffles. “Love and Other Drugs” is not like this at all.
Heartthrob Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a slick player recently coming into the world of medical drug sales. He bumps into Maggie (Anne Hathaway) who is struggling with stage one of Parkinson’s disease. Jamie seems to have finally found the one person who sees him as worthwhile and Maggie has found the one person who loves her despite her disease. Together, they must come to terms with what is worth fighting for and what should be left on the side roads.
The original chick flick story goes as follows: guy loves girl, but doesn’t know it and girl makes guy a better person because of girl’s love. Adding an intense disease like Parkinson’s, you’d think would be a great way to add more passion and meaning into the story.
“Love and Other Drugs” was not able to accomplish this, but not because of a lack of talent. Hathaway and Gyllenhaal are both incredible actors and bring life to the struggle of their characters.
One of the downfalls was the constant nudity involved in the film. It doesn’t take away from the core story, but it doesn’t enhance the story in any way. Nudity is just there. A lot.
What this film is missing is intense character development and the lack of cute and romantic lines. That is what makes a romantic comedy good — the lyrical lines one can coo over and the complete 360-degree transformation of the main characters by the power of love. There was no passion, no cute lines and nothing that made me “aww” or sniffle, even a little bit.