Love and Other Drugs

Director: Edward Zwick

The Bouw-Man.

It’s always fascinating to me when you see a film like this generate some “Oscar buzz.”  If you watch the trailer it looks like your average romantic “dramedy,” between two attractive individuals.  So, we’re either looking at the producers and studio manipulating the system through extensive marketing and advertising to create this talk, or there is something much more to this film than is being shown in the preview.  Maybe I’m just a jaded individual, but my gut is telling me this is not in any way a “special” film.  Based on the book, "Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman," I’m thinking there not much depth to the story or the characters.

 

I don’t know when Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway became a couple of main faces associated with “Young Hollywood,” but apparently they’re pretty big.  Gyllenhaal to me will always be that little kid from “City Slickers,” and Hathaway the innocent girl from “The Princess Diaries” films.  Obviously that was a number of years ago, but I can’t yet put them in the category of “bankable” Hollywood talent from both a critical and financial standpoint.  They both elevated their “game” with the 2006 hit “Brokeback Mountain,” a film that Gyllenhaal was nominated for an Oscar (Hathaway later received an Oscar nomination for “Rachel Getting Married” in 2008).  Ironically, the husband/wife relationship of Gyllenhaal and Hathaway in “Brokeback Mountain” had little to no chemistry (due to the sexual orientation of Gyllenhaal’s character).  Now, the people at “Love and Other Drugs” are counting on their chemistry together to make their film viable this Thanksgiving season.

Prediction.

There isn’t much competition for “Love and Other Drugs,” in terms of other films out at this time that are “romantic” in nature.  That will not necessarily translate into a big payday, because these types of films are not considered a “sure thing.”  I’m thinking it will do all right, but definitely not in the “blockbuster” category.  Let’s go with an $18.5 million take for “love and Other Drugs” during the long Thanksgiving holiday.

Opening Weekend Gross: $18.5 Million

Noodles.

Prediction.

This movie strikes me as a rather typical rom-com-edy that will excite the masses, not at all. Its being released opposite a new kid's movie, and Harry Potter is only a week old and still kicking ass and taking names. I think this flick will finish just ahead of 'Faster' for the weekend.

Opening Weekend: Gross: $14 Million

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