Flicks Review: Love and Other Drugs

By Meriha Beaton, Staff Contributor

A warning to all the straight ladies about to go watch Love and Other Drugs: afterwards you will probably have the urge to make passionate love to any available gentleman. A suggestion to all straight men out there: go stand outside a theatre of Love and Other Drugs and wait.

Love and Other Drugs is a romantic comedy with a dramatic twist. Set in the 1990s, Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a womanizing pharmaceuticals rep who promotes Viagra. His life is a string of one-night stands, and he has no intention of slowing down.

That is, until he meets Maggie. Maggie (Anne Hathaway) is a young woman suffering from Stage I Parkinson’s Disease and, like Jamie, isn’t looking for anything serious. At first the relationship is just about casual sex. But after a while it becomes something much bigger, which turns out to be exactly what they both needed.

The pairing of Gyllenhaal and Hathaway is superb and much more believable this time around, now that all the gay cowboy stuff is behind them. Their chemistry is lusty and romantic, playful and serious.

But it isn’t just your average boy-meets-girl kind of movie. It’s set apart with a massive amount of on-screen nudity and no-holds-barred sex. Unlike most mainstream romantic comedies, where the extent of on screen nudity is a little flash of the bum cheek here and there, Love and Other Drugs has Gyllenhaal and Hathaway completely in their birthday suits.

The sex scenes are also not your run of the mill sex scenes. The first rendezvous between Jamie and Maggie is up against her kitchen counter seconds after they get through the door. A large chunk of them getting it on is on camera, with no cutting away.

Of course, all the raunchiness is balanced out by tender moments between Jamie and Maggie. The unfolding of their relationship is natural and unrushed. They aren’t saying, “I love you” 10 minutes after they first meet, so when the proclamations of love do come it is believable.

But, as fun as it is to watch all the steamy love scenes, the movie has a serious undertone. Maggie’s illness is the obstacle the two need to overcome. Although the ending is happy, it’s apparent the future isn’t going to be all sunshine and rainbows.

Love and Other Drugs is a romantic comedy worth watching. It has love, sex, humour, drama and Jake Gyllenhaal naked. And really, what more could you ask for?