Love & Other Drugs | Blogmas Day 22

Happy Blogmas Day 22!

This is one of those films that I've heard a lot of people talk about, but for some reason I just never thought about watching it. But like 'Midnight Sun', it's on Amazon Prime, so I thought that I'd give it a chance and add it to my Blogmas watch list.

Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a pharmaceutical salesman who knows just what to say to impress the ladies. That is, until he meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway), a woman with Parkinsons who he takes an instant liking to. But as their relationship develops, and becomes something real for the first time in both of their lives, can either of them handle a serious commitment?

The film begins by showing Gyllenhaal's character having dinner with his family, and this made me instantly warm to the film. In the moments where the characters were arguing and making snide comments and talking over each other, it felt real, like you were getting a peek into someone's real family dinner, which sets a precedent for the realism of the whole film.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway are great in these roles. Not only are they believable as these individual characters, but they're also extremely believable as a couple. It's rare in romance movies to have a couple who have a good friendship without romance, who talk to each other like they've been friends for years rather than having met a week ago. These two have that, and it makes watching them really entertaining because you can totally see why and how these characters fell for each other.

This is a grounded, real story routed in human interaction. These characters are people that you could know, and the words that they say are words that you can imagine saying yourself. As I said before, the realism of the film is what makes it an interesting watch.

In addition to this, the film does a really good job of showing the effects of a degenerative disorder - both the physical symptoms and the emotional effects that come from this. And for a while, it's interesting to see that, when her health decreases, the relationship seems to strengthen. The couple had an interesting dynamic, and the fact that one of the characters was ill is a huge part of this.

But even when these characters don't see eye-to-eye, it is very easy for the audience to see both sides of their arguments without feeling that they need to pick sides.

Overall, this is a very enjoyable, realistic movie that any lover of romance should see.

7/10

It's 3 days until Christmas!

Come back tomorrow for Blogmas day 23!