Accidental Lovers

By now you probably know Love & Other Drugs is one heckuva sexy movie starring Brokeback Mountain co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway.

I’ve seen the Edward Zwick-directed romantic dramedy twice now, and lemme tell ya...I probably will see it a third time – it’s that enjoyable.

The garnish, of course, is Gyllen-yum.

He – and Hathaway – cavorts through a great deal of the movie’s almost two-hour running time in various stages of undress (if you ask me, the actor’s sexiest feature isn’t his oh-so-tight bod, but that killer combo of baby blues and sharp canines he’s got going on).

The reason I looked forward to a repeat viewing in the first place, though, is Love & Other Drugs…spoke to me.

The movie felt genuine, as uneven as it was, which is perhaps why I think it is so, y’ know.

It made me laugh more than I ever imagined it would and it made me feel a knot in my throat at times and it made me cringe a little at others. Which is kinda what life is like. And, again, it’s a fun, sexy time with Gyllenhaal and Hathaway – hello!

Here’s what you need to know: the film is a period piece (as much as it can be going back a whopping 14 years).

The story begins some time in 1996, with Spin Doctors’ “Two Princes” ensuring that we get we’re way back then. Based on Jamie Reidy’s Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman, the film follows the reluctant relationship that blossoms between twentysomethings Jamie Randall and Maggie Murdock, a second-rate-electronics salesman-turned-pharmaceutical-rep wunderkind and a free-spirited artist suffering from early onset Parkinson’s, respectively. It’s a debunk for the both of them, and a quite enjoyable one to watch because neither one of them was looking for it.

Jamie’s not much for relationships, you see. He’s a natural born charmer who could sell sand in the desert if he wanted to and make a killin’, but instead he’s slacking through life, not wanting to give his dad the satisfaction on going to med school and putting his considerable talents to good use. He’d rather get laid, which he does often with the flash of his smile.

Maggie, on the other hand, isn’t much for relationships, either – not anymore. She’s tried that, and because of her disease she’s become guarded...convinced that she’s better off keeping things casual. She’s a straight shooter who’s doing what she feels she needs to do to live out the hand she’s been dealt, and if you don’t like it then there’s the door.

Jamie meets Maggie while at a doctor’s office he’s worked his way in to hawk some of Pfizer’s antidepressants in his new, promising career as a rep. He’s posing an intern, she’s there for kind of an emergency; they banter a little (you can tell he’s taken by her...and her boobs); he goes on with his day, she finds him out in the parking lot afterward. Sparks fly.

From there Jamie and Maggie go at it. A lot. Whenever, wherever.

They first meet for coffee, though; he tries to turn it on for her, but before he can she calls him out on it. She knows what he wants and she wants the same. It’s the perfect set-up for both .

What starts as an NSA thing begins to grow gradually, and soon they’re in it. The question is are they in it to win it – is he strong enough to deal with Maggie’s Parkinson’s, and is she strong enough to let Jamie in? Will he be tempted by another and/or the money he starts making later on as a top Viagra salesman?

That’s what this is all about, not the sex...or the mini-subplot involving Jamie’s crass brother...or the competition between Jamie and a rival rep, and to see these two characters – so nicely played by Gyllenhaal and Hathaway, who have amazing chemistry on screen, btw – figure it out is the true joy of Love & Other Drugs.

My Rating ***

Photo: 20th Century Fox.