Review : 'Love and Other Drugs' (2010)

Having heard about the racy sex scenes in Love and Other Drugs I just had to see it. I'm a sucker for famous people getting all naked and vulnerable on screen ("they're just like us! Only prettier!"). When I heard Christina Ricci showed her rack in Black Snake Moan I couldn't see it fast enough (never mind that I got bored about 20 minutes in). The chemistry between Jake and Anne (who both give fantastic performances) is evident and you totally buy them as a couple, but more on that later.

Love and Other Drugs is the story of 2 20-somethings, one a womanising pharmaceuticals salesman, the other an early-onset Parkinsons sufferer who won't commit. FIREWORKS! PROBLEMS! RESOLUTION! It really is that simple...but with some added Viagra. And that's where my problems are with the film. For a movie where Jake Gyllenhaal shows his really nice bum multiple times and Anne Hathaway shows her big boobs for what seems like 65% of the (10 minutes too long) running time, it all runs very predictably. This is standard emotion-prodding rom-com fare. Commitment-phobes meet, commitment-phobes give in to their growing love, something forces them apart (admittedly this time it's Parkinsons rather than an ex or a job or something), they emotionally reunite (in front of a load of old people). There's even a funny, overweight side-kick for Gyllenhaal to be humorous with.

I know it seems like I'm obsessed with movie-sex, but the film was a little bit like if The Wedding Singer had suddenly had a scene where Drew Barrymore performs really graphic fellatio on Adam Sandler. Shudder. Yeah, not quite like that, but you get the picture.

The comments on America's healthcare system seemed a little out of place too. It was like Love and Other Drugs couldn't decide what it wanted to be. It was sometimes cute, sometimes raunchy, sometimes sad and sometimes political. I personally would have enjoyed a film that focused on the pharmaceuticals business as this was the most interesting aspect for me but as a backdrop for the standard love story it just didn't work. The ending especially is so by-the-numbers that if it wasn't for the 'proper' actors it would have been unbearable schmultz. With Hathaway and Gyllenhaal at the helm it was quite touching but I wouldn't have liked to have seen the same scene played out with some Gossip Girl cast members.

This is a film to rent I think, rather than view at the cinema. A stand-up comic on Twitter said, "I've just seen Love and Other Drugs aka Anne Hathaway's Tits" which is slightly unfair, but not too unfair. And it made me laugh. If there's one thing that I like better than a romantic comedy with terminal illnesses and graphic sex scenes, it's a funny tweet.