Love and Other Drugs

Needing to kill a few hours before a Sunday evening flight from JFK, I went to see this at a huge cineplex on 42nd street near Times Square. I like going to the movies in New York, the quality of the screening and sound always seems a step ahead of anywhere else. It may just be my imagination.

Love and other drugs turned out to be a couple of hours well spent. Great performances from Jake Gyllenhaal (as Jamie) and Anne Hathaway (as Maggie). On one level its the story of the introduction of the drug Viagra in the 1990´s. On another its the rather sad and thought provoking tale of a young woman with early onset Parkinsons. Jamie and Maggie like each other very much and are keen to embark on a relationship, but both realise the implications of her having a degenarative disease. Its billed as a comedy and indeed parts are very funny, but once the reality of Maggie´s condition sinks in, the laughs are thin on the ground. Its well made though and sensitively handled by the hugely talented director Edward Zwick (Glory, Legends of the Fall, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond, to name but a few).