Review: Love and Other Drugs (2010, Dir. Edward Zwick)

Risk of overdose: Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway in Love and Other Drugs.

Love and Other Drugs--I always admire a director who delves into newish territory, but perhaps Edward Zwick should stick to the historical action-dramas (Glory, The Last Samurai) for which he's best known. His latest film, Love and Other Drugs, is too much at war with itself for the audience to appreciate what it actually offers (thematic and social insights, solid performances) as it struggles to find the tone it wants to maintain. The film tells the story of a mid-'90s young drug rep (played charismatically by Jake Gyllenhaal) whose playboy antics screech to a halt when he meets free-spirited Maggie (how do you know she's a free spirit? Duh, she smokes weed and paints...), and a label-free romance ensues as both characters predictably come to terms with what they really want. 

What the film does get right is the depiction of the pharmaceutical industry--it's the most appealing aspect of the film, as both its cut-throat and superficial sides come to light and create an interesting atmosphere. Unfortunately, that's as developed as Zwick's movie gets. The characters are superficially drawn and immensely cliched, for Gyllenhaal and Hathaway do what they can with their roles. The former displays comedic charm, but beyond that shows very little depth; the latter, however, gives a solid performance and shows that she's capable and deserving of much better. Hank Azaria and Oliver Platt are serviceable in their highly limited supporting roles, while Josh Gad as Gyllenhaal's crude brother is just plain annoying and adds nothing to the film. In fact, he encapsulates an entire problem of the film--Zwick doesn't know whether he wants to tell his story in the form of a raunchy sex romp (a la Apatow...I never thought I'd say that...) or a dignified, adult romance (something along the lines of a James L. Brooks film, or even the recent Up in The Air). This tonal tug-of-war just hampers the film in all departments, making it come off as intermittently enjoyable at most instead of the mature and provocative romantic-comedy it had the potential to be. Love and Other Drugs is frustrating in the sense that while the audience laughs and is moved enough (just barely, in fact), they won't rid the fact that they had wished they'd seen the film it could and should have been. 

Grade: C