'Love and Other Drugs' - the movie

       I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, which does not happen very often. From the trailer and the back of the video I mistakenly assumed it was just another raunchy comedy about casual sex and living a life without taking responsibility for our actions. And during the first twenty minutes of this movie you would think that this movie was along these same lines as we watch Jake Gyllenhall's character Jaime using his charm on women to either sell them things or get them into his bed, until he meets the seemingly free spirited Maggie (played by Anne Hathaway) and that's when this movie shows some depth and quite a bit of character development.

       I love characters and I absolutely love characters that stay with me long after 'the end.' And these characters, Jaime and Maggie, were simply wonderful because they weren't shallow, they had flaws and by the end of the movie I was caring about them, even though they were fictional. Of course, the humor, the good flow of the story and excellent use of camera angles helped tell the story but without characters to latch onto, I wouldn't be writing about it in my blog.

      I do wonder why the marketing department decided not to advertise this story as the deep, emotional drama it actually was. Were they afraid that people wouldn't watch it if they knew it was more than a 'lets get laid movie?" Have audience goers sunk so low that they only appreciate jokes on bodily functions and stories on the pursuit of getting laid without any strings attached? I would hope not.

      I will try not to spoil the story line so I'll only delve a bit into the plot line. But basically, right from the beginning that we meet Maggie, we learn that she has early onset Parkinson's disease. I personally have not had a lot of experience with this disease (others, yes.) I couldn't even imagine having a disease of this magnitude, especially as a person that uses her hands and legs to function. Oh, wait that's everyone. See, right off the bat we can see how much something like this would rob a person of their humanity and feelings of self worth. And right there we start to realize that Maggie isn't free spirited because she only wants to think of herself and what feels good. She has had her heart wounded shattered and vows never again. Once again it's back to the theme of fragile hearts and oh, how breakable they are.

      I understand this point way too well. And perhaps that's why I resonate with this movie a bit, but I know what it feels like to have your entire feeling of self worth ripped out by a broken body, leaving a heart that's held together with Scotch tape.

      But thank goodness love is the most awesome thing in the whole universe. As we watch Jaime and Maggie fall in love, we know that they're going to face some difficult decisions no matter which way they choose to go. Living with a person that suffers from a disease is not easy and even though the movie can only touch briefly on how hard things can actually be, it's enough to know that the character of Jaime has to find strength within himself to realize that loving Maggie and everything that's included in that equation is the path he needs to choose, or he will forever suffer the emptiness that has followed him around his entire life.

      The paths we travel in life can be difficult. Disease and broken bodies are not fair and never will be. But love...love is what makes it worth it. It's a glue, a bridge, a healer. It makes the world turn and gives us hope. 

      And that's probably why I liked this movie so well. It was about love. :)