finally watched “love and other drugs” last night…
Seriously?
This is what i was missing?
Don’t get me wrong. It was interesting, it broke my heart, it made me sad, and it made me laugh.
But in the end, it was the same regurgitated chick flick plot with a sad, heart-wrenching twist that didn’t add up that much.
I honestly fell asleep halfway. And i never fall asleep halfway through movies, unless they’re really bad or i’m really tired.
well, i admit, i was really tired, and i don’t know how long i was asleep, but when i woke up, apparently i hadn’t missed anything. so i guess the film couldn’t have been that good either.
it feels like this was just an excuse to see anne hathaway’s boobs and jake gyllenhaal’s ass. it wanted to pass as a serious movie so that they could exhibit her boobs without feeling like a slapstick comedy.
the most compelling moments of the film, for me: hank azaria and oliver platt.
hank azaria’s character, Dr. Knight (who I really believed to be a dick from the first moment), says something regarding the medical profession that made me rather sad, because my dad’s a doctor, and it was very real. he says that how can he be expected to be great when he has to see 50 patients a day, do consultation over the phone and surgery, then deal with patient’s family who insist that they read something different ON THE INTERNET, the insurance companies make it a mission to NEVER pay, he still has to do his own billing, and every lawyer is just waiting for him to make the smallest mistake and screw him over. He then says that this doctor thing used to be a calling for him, the idea of helping people’s lives.
And i understand. Not just anyone would put themselves through medical school, of expensive tuition and years and years of studying incessantly and not having a life; of shipping off to somewhere unknown to do internships under bad conditions. The least they can ask for is the respect they deserve.
And Oliver Platt’s character (whose name I can’t remember), when Jake’s character gets the job they both wanted, which meant living in Chicago, where his family actually lives, in the suburbs, he says that it’s okay, that he loves being on the road, that it’s his thing. Of course he’s being sarcastic. “Why would I want to live in my house, which I’m paying for? Why would I want to be with my children and watch them grow up? Why the fuck would I want to sleep in the same bed as my wife?” That nearly broke my heart.
Also, Mr. Hobo, who first catches Jake’s character dumping the competition’s supply of Prozac into the garbage. He’s always there to fish those little boxes out once Jake gets rid of them. Much later we find that he’s been taking the Prozac regularly, and he shows up again, a lot less shaggy-looking, with his hair combed back neatly, and he grabs more of the Prozac, declaring that he’s got a job interview. Well done, Mr. Hobo.
The medication industry is a double-edged sword. As of recent, I understand a lot more what it’s like to need a pill to make you feel better, but I honestly hope I never have the need to depend on a happy pill to carry on with my life. Because it feels like falling prey to an industry that will always be more about making money and beating down the competition, than it is about really helping people. And even if the film points this out, it doesn’t really take much of a side, and it just feels like it wusses out of doing so.
