Love & Other Drugs unfortunately suffers from the same problem that I find a lot of romantic comedy dramas have, and that's that it's trying to accomplish far too much at once. The storytelling's kind of jumbled (there's a relationship subplot, a career subplot, and a Parkinson's subplot, and all three are fighting for dominance), as are many of the emotions, which largely results in every element feeling slightly underdeveloped, and therefore a bit surface-level and generic.
And it's a shame, because the genre fundamentals are otherwise quite good. Jake Gyllenhaal is a likeable fit for both the lighter and heavier aspects of the script, Anne Hathaway pulls off the tired frustrations of her tricky character fairly well, the two have incredible chemistry with one another (a pair of extremely hot people make for a cute couple; more at eleven), and Josh Gad is used the exact right amount for comedic relief.
This is an agreeable enough watch for the most part, with decent amounts of humour, warmth, and heart. I just think those qualities would've been even more prominent and consistent with the removal, or reduction, of at least one of the storylines (as funny as some of the Viagra stuff was, that's probably the one I'd choose), a less sterile visual palette, and a smoother tonal balance.
Grade: B
No comments:
Post a Comment