Love and Other Drugs

I wanted to like this film, I really did. To me, it looked to be a sexy rom-com with Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway. That should have made the alarm bells ring; rom-com - I usually hate them. Ok, so there might be the odd few I consider guilty pleasures, but generally they're not my cup of tea. This film appealed though, because it had Jake Gyllenhaal and sex. I'm not going to lie.

The thing is, I'm not sure this film is what it says on the tin. Sexy? Er...actually not. The sex scenes seemed awkward and seriously lacking in chemistry. The whole time I just thinking; 'Oh look, they're at it again, Jake and Anne pretending to have sexy time!'

Their characters were not likeable, and at times came across as over-acted. No, I'm not an expert in the fields of acting or cinema, but this is the internet, so I can say what I want and try and make it sound like I know what I'm talking about. Maybe.

Hathaway is all nicey nicey and eyes and teeth. A bit like Julia Roberts - only Hathaway is happy to get naked. Her hair is all wavy and curly, which, true to the rules of cinema, particularly rom-coms, means her character is kooky and independent. Gyllenhaal is playing the stereotypical jerk who is actually quite nice (slutty men have hearts too!).

I spent most of this film wondering when it was going to end, or what I could eat to satisfy the rumbling in my tummy. I didn't care about the characters, and I didn't care if they stayed together and that it all ended happily ever after - the main reason being that whenever a 'tender' moment happened between Maggie and Jamie (oh, yes, they are the characters' names. I couldn't be bothered to give a synopsis in case I fell asleep) a woman would start humming in the background. It's as if the film maker's got this woman to sing, or hum, so that every time she did, the audience were reminded to care.

I'm not sure what this film was. It wasn't sexy, it wasn't a comedy, and it definitely wasn't romantic. It was just kind of...meh. Underwhelming. Maybe my expectations in movies are heightened after watching a spate of award-winning films; Black Swan, The King's Speech, Winter's Bone, Blue Valentine, and er...Superman 2. Or maybe this film just wasn't for me.

Two Stars out of 5. One for Gyllenhaal and one for his bum.