Love and Other Drugs

Director: Edward Zwick

I guess it would be fair to say that the director, Edward Zwick, hasn’t got a lot of experience in making romantic comedies, since he is mostly famous for his action movies, like “The Last Samurai,” “Siege,” and “Blood Diamond.” That is probably why “Love and other Drugs,” which was promoted as a classic rom-com, in the end turns out to be something a little more serious. Of course, it does have a lot of the romantic comedy cliches in it, but, fortunately, they all are logically written into the script and diluted with a solid portion of explicit language and mild nudity.

What is very good about the movie is that it manages to combine different atmospheres, so you don’t get bored from watching it. Including and mixing such  genres as a teen comedy, medical drama, and adding something romantic to that you get a peculiar cocktail, one on which you can easily spend a couple of hours of your time and not regret afterwards.

What concerns the acting, the performance of Anne Hathaway deserves a special mention. The viewer has already gotten used to Anne playing soft, nice and shy characters, so it was time to break the stereotype. Hathaway’s character is sarcastic, confident, sometimes even mean. But, what’s most important, she is original and funny. Combined with a solid performance by Jake Gyllenhaal, and supporting roles by Hank Azaria and Josh Gad, the acting in general leaves a pretty good impression.

Unfortunately, the abundance of cliches, like the final chase of one’s other half and the dramatic love speech afterwards, might scare off sophisticated viewers, but it can be said with confidence that the movie is oriented towards a massive audience (mostly for young people), those who watch movies just to relax and have fun. After all, it is filled with a lot of comic supporting characters.

If you plan to bring children to this movie - don’t. As I mentioned, the movie is R-rated for sure. For everyone else, it will probably be a fun way to spend time.

Now showing  in all three countries.