Love and Other Drugs

Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway

Directed by Edward Zwick

Rating: 5 stars

This romantic comedy wouldn't have been so good without the two actors cast as the lead roles. Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway are so good at making you feel the emotions they go through. Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a young pharmaceutical salesman. He'll do anything to make the sale, so he and his mentor Bruce (Oliver Platt) can make it to the big city of Chicago where they will make tons of money. Along the way, Jamie meets Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway), a young 26-year-old who has been diagnosed with Parkinsons. They both agree that they're both not looking for a relationship but slowly, they're "friends with benefits" relationship turns into the real thing. Of course, this wouldn't be a real love story without problems and they argue and break up. But in the end, they decided to work things out and Jamie wants to stay, despite her disease.

I would give this movie five stars because it's not your typical romance/love story. Sure, boy is a jerk, boy meets girl, boy likes girl, eventually boy loves girl, and then there's a happy ending. But what's different about this movie is that it shows Jamie and Maggie's relationship isn't perfect. When they both meet, they could care less about committing and use each other for sex. Eventually, they fall for each other but their relationship still isn't perfect. Maggie has Parkinson's disease which she has to deal with as it slowly gets worse. During this hard time, she feels like Jamie won't want to stay and that'll only hurt her later. Breaking up doesn't help, in the end they realize that they don't want anyone else.

What made this a good movie was that it made you laugh, it made you feel sad, and some people out there could probably connect with this story. Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway are a perfect on-screen couple, they compliment eachother so well. You might remember that they played husband and wife in "Brokeback Mountain". Since this movie is rated R (and with good cause), I would recommend this movie to those who don't mind nudity or sex scenes. That was pretty much why the movie was rated R. It was definitely for mature audiences since it contained things adults would understand, though I'm sure there's lots of teenagers who would understand too. So, if you're feeling up to spending $8.50 or however much it costs to go to the movies these days and you're wondering what movie you want to see, I would recommend this one. It's for guys and girls! So don't think it's just another "chick flick". Guys, you'll find things to laugh at at this movie too.