Love and Other Drugs Review

Before I start this review, let’s get one thing straight, right off the bat: I am a guy.

I eat red meat, I play violent video games, and I have an abundance of testosterone coursing through my body. When it comes to movies, it isn’t hard to figure out that I mainly watch crazy, over-the-top action movies and buddy comedies. Needless to say, I don’t have much experience in the field of romances.

Now, that isn’t to say that I know nothing of them. Of course I’ve dabbled into the occasional romantic comedy (Just Friends, anyone?), and as a movie critic, it is my duty to watch any movie presented to me so that I can inform others of its strengths and missteps.

Love and Other Drugs is no exception. The latest movie that every woman is going to drag her reluctant man to see, Love and Other Drugs is about Jake Gyllenhaal’s Jamie, a cocky travelling salesman for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, who falls in love with Anne Hathaway’s Maggie, a Parkinson’s disease-stricken woman with a sharp tongue.

“That just sounds like a typical rom-com,” you may be thinking to yourself. “What separates Love and Other Drugs from other movies in its genre?” For starters, this movie is not for kids: There is A LOT of nudity and adult content here. Clearly, the two leads have no qualms about showing their bodies. Depending on the viewer, this can be taken as a good or a bad thing, but it often feels forced and unnecessary. There are many times throughout when it seems as though the director was thinking, “This scene looks good, but it’s missing something… Oh! Of course: Nudity.”

Second, Other Drugs is just plain depressing. The dark undertone of Maggie’s Parkinson’s disease is always below the surface of the movie, acting as a buzz kill for any happiness that may try to poke its head through.

Third, the movie lacks comedy, a somewhat important aspect of a movie that calls itself a romantic comedy. There are several scenes where chuckles are induced, but there is not a human alive who will walk out of that theater saying the words, “I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe.” It can be done; a romantic comedy that is actually funny is not out of the question, so why directors refuse to make them funny is a question I wish we had an answer to.

Love and Other Drugs is one of those movies that should not be viewed by single women. It is a sappy, fairytale love story that every woman has fantasized about at some point in her life, and the overwhelming theme of loneliness is essentially depression, bludgeoning single women over the head.

I wish I could ease the minds of all the men out there who’s significant others are going to guilt trip them into seeing this testosterone-vacuum of a movie, but for the sake of my fellow men everywhere, I must be honest: You are going to be very, very bored. Most men would rather go to the dentist and get a tooth pulled than watch Hathaway go all doe-eyed on Gyllenhaal.

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is the government organization that tests food and drugs to make sure they are safe for the public. Love and Other Drugs should come with a warning label on the back of the ticket stubs that reads:

“WARNING: Keep out of reach of children. Do not take if single, recently singled, or a male. Side effects (predominantly among males) may include nausea, vomiting, decreases in testosterone levels, and suicidal thoughts.”