Written by Vicki Thurley
[Warning: I have mentioned a few spoilers concerning the plot]
The biggest element that seems to be apparently absent in modern day romantic comedies is the chemistry between the two main leads, who are more often than not the wrong couple to combine. However, Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal create remarkable passion and a soothing overdose of pleasure as we watch two beautiful actors working together well, particularly since their tense and unsuccessful relationship in their previous film together, Brokeback Mountain (2005). Gyllenhaal’s role in this film appears to be taken more seriously; regardless of his egotistical personality as Jamie Randall, a pharmaceutical salesman for “Pfizer” whose charm woos the ladies, the adult content being dealt with here makes this romantic comedy more of a drama. Nevertheless, Love and Other Drugs still accommodates the real issues that strike home, such as a relationship that has no serious potential for the couple involved, yet the film’s deeper themes surround Maggie (Anne Hathaway), who is desperately battling the first stage of Parkinson’s disease, whilst in contrast of her declining health the film emphasises the deterioration of the American medical world.