I will admit that I am a sucker for a decent romantic comedy every now and then and when Love and Other Drugs popped up on my Netflix radar I knew exactly what I was getting myself into as there was no denying it from the trailer. However, despite the extremely predictable plot line that is defined very early on in the film, I watched this entire movie without ever looking at my phone, and this is always a good gauge of a movie that is worth watching in my world.
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This is not a new film. It was made back in 2010 but lately Netflix has been going on a Jake Gyllenhaal kick in order to (I'm guessing) promote his new Netflix exclusive film called The Guilty that I didn't particularly care for.
In some of the trailers the movie is shown as being a story about a guy who was in medical school but it didn't work out for him for various reasons and he has become a bit of a shame upon the family because of this especially since his nerdy brother is super-rich from online ventures. Jamie Randall (Jake) also gets fired from his job at an electronics store because he is a womanizer and gets caught hooking up with his boss' wife while on the job.
That scene in the electronics store will be a lot of fun for anyone over the age of 35 or so because the film is meant to take place in the 90's so it's a bit of a time warp back into what the world considered "cutting edge" electronics at the time.
After losing his job because of his missteps with the boss' wife he doesn't really know what to do next and it is his recently extremely wealthy brother who recommends him for a job in pharmaceutical sales... a job that his skills as a manipulator of women actually comes in really handy for.
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The movie takes a not-so-surprising twist when he is one day introduced to a patient who just happens to be quirky, pretty, funny, and immune to his charms and yeah, this isn't exactly ground-breaking material since it is the premise of just about every Matthew Mcconaughey film prior to 2009.
The film tries to be tragic but for the most part every single person watching this is very aware of how it is going to turn out and even though I hate the predictable nature of Hollywood films, for some reason, Rom-Coms get a pass for this crime in my book.
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The whole "player guy who is turned straight by the right person" plot has been done hundreds of times before but there is something about it that simply works - well, for me and tons of other people because this movie turned a pretty hefty profit at the box office even though aside from one or two things, you can see every turn in the movie coming from miles away.
I think that this was done best in the film Crazy, Stupid, Love and even though this is not the film I am talking about right now, if you are going to see just one Rom-Com that you haven't already seen this weekend, I would say that is the one to go for. In the meantime though, you can do a lot worse than Love and Other Drugs as far as some couch entertainment is concerned.
Should I watch it?
Ok, that trailer is pretty cringe-worthy and to be fair to basically all romantic comedies they are as well and probably contribute to depression all around the world when these sorts of situations never happen to normal people. We are probably more likely to be the nerdy brother or one of the other people in the film. Still, despite the fact that I almost feel a bit dirty saying that I enjoyed this movie, I really did. I even got misty-eyed during a couple of parts in it and thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing. What can I say? I'm a sucker for emotional sentiment every now and then. I believe that most people will enjoy this and therefore I give this one a thumbs up.
I love this movie with my soul, the chemistry between the two of them kills me. Even though her illness has no cure. I still enjoy this funny yet sad story and could watch it over and over again.☺️
It isn't exactly new that a couple of opposites and especially a playboy like him meet each other and hit it off perfectly but in the end this story just worked for me very well.
I have watched it three times. It really has a weird way of making me feel emotional, probably because I know their life wouldn't end well as there isn't a cure or maybe because I wanted it to go on and on and on. But yes! It's a movie, it always have to end.
yeah, i feel the same way. I got mistey-eyed a few times when I was watching it and this is nice sometimes.
I saw it a few years ago, I think it's one of the romantic comedies I enjoyed the most. As you say, entertainment is the important factor in this kind of movies, and this one entertained me. In fact, I think when I get a chance I'll try to watch it again.