Posts tagged drug
“Love & Other Drugs” Life Changed Forever
Dec 2nd
“Life Changed Forever”
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS is a bittersweet romantic comedy with a twist, and by “twist” I don’t mean a twist of lemon that could be applied, but rather a subplot that provides its “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” jokes.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway star, two excellent actors who are not only easy on the eyes, but also both of whom have already been mentioned as possibilities for Best Actor and Best Actress awards in 2011 for this movie.
The time is 1996, and Jake plays Jamie Randall, an enthusiastic salesman of practically everything, but most of his successful sales seem to be to attractive women, if you catch my drift.
In fact, his sales techniques and satisfied customers tend to get him fired, too, and so at a family dinner with his parents and millionaire brother, when they talk about their professional accomplishments, Jamie has to announce, “I am looking for other opportunities.”
Jamie finds a job, and he goes through six weeks of training to become a pharmaceutical representative for a major drug company. The job requires hard-core sales, and he has a quota he has to meet.
Now, sooner or later everyone likes Jamie, because he will do anything to make them like him.
That includes paying $1,000 to Dr. Stan Knight, played by Hank Azaria, to let Jamie shadow him one day, and if anyone asks, Jamie is an intern.
One of the patients is Maggie Murdock, who has early onset Parkinson’s Disease, and Jamie is instantly smitten.
Maggie finds out about Jamie’s deception, but she agrees to go out with him anyway, because she is just like him, not looking for any long-term relationship, except that in her case she doesn’t want to become an inevitable burden to anyone.
Then Jamie’s company comes out with a little blue pill called Viagra, and that changes everything in Jamie’s life.
Of course, Jamie’s and Maggie’s relationship has its ups and downs–wink, wink, nudge, nudge–and I don’t mean just physical.
If this enjoyable romcom has a moral, it would be “Everybody needs someone to take care of them.”
And, of course, people like Jamie and Maggie don’t believe that originally and fight it as long as they can.
LOVE & OTHER DRUGS also shows how you can meet one person and your life is changed forever.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Love and Other Drugs – Movie Trailer
Nov 24th
Handsome and charming pharmaceutical rep Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal) falls head over heels for radiant free spirit Maggie (Anne Hathaway), and together the two people who never thought they would fall in love discover that their intense chemistry is more powerful than any drug on the market.
“Rachel Getting Married” Kym Ruining a Lovely Weekend
Nov 20th
Kym Ruining a Lovely Weekend
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED is a disturbing movie for a number of reasons, any one of which can ruin it for the audience.
First, the title doesn’t reflect the story. Yes, there is a character named Rachel, and she does get married at the climax of the weekend over which the story takes place, but she is not the main character and the story is not so much about her getting married as it is about her sister, Kym.
Second, Kym is played by Anne Hathaway, a stunningly beautiful actress, but here she has a short, unattractive hairdo, and she plays a drug addict who is allowed to leave her drug-rehab facility for the weekend in order to attend her sister’s wedding, but because she is a narcissistic addict, she is compelled to turn every conversation to be about her and to take over every gathering of people she intrudes upon.
Third, Rachel’s and Kym’s father is played by Bill Irwin, who had a previous career as an annoying mime, and everybody hates mimes. So, whenever he is on-screen, my eyes were immediately drawn to him, and I caught him always mugging for the camera, even when he had no lines and the scene isn’t about him.
Fourth, Kym did something in the past that tragically affected her family, and before we learn what it was, we get a teasing reference to it when she stops in a convenience store on the way home and the clerk says to her, “Hey, didn’t I see you on ‘Cops’?”
Fifth, every scene gives the impression that it could have been cut shorter and ended up better, particularly the one that consists of a competition on how best to load a dishwasher, which doesn’t seem to have any point at all until the very end of the scene.
Sixth, the musicians for the wedding ceremony are there for the entire weekend rehearsing their music, which the audience has to hear, too, and it just gets to be annoying.
Seventh, Debra Winger plays the mother of Kym and Rachel, she hasn’t made a movie for a number of years, and you might get a shock at how old she looks now.
And finally, the movie gives weddings a bad name.
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED would be more accurate as KYM RUINING A LOVELY WEEKEND.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
