Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Jake Gyllenhaal | ... | Jamie Randall | |
Anne Hathaway | ... | Maggie Murdock | |
Oliver Platt | ... | Bruce Winston | |
Hank Azaria | ... | Dr. Stan Knight | |
Josh Gad | ... | Josh Randall | |
Gabriel Macht | ... | Trey Hannigan | |
Judy Greer | ... | Cindy | |
George Segal | ... | Dr. James Randall | |
Jill Clayburgh | ... | Nancy Randall | |
Kate Jennings Grant | ... | Gina | |
Katheryn Winnick | ... | 'Lisa' | |
Kimberly Scott | ... | Gail | |
Peter Friedman | ... | California Man | |
Nikki Deloach | ... | Christy | |
Natalie Gold | ... | Dr. Helen Randall |
Maggie (Hathaway) is an alluring free spirit who won't let anyone - or anything - tie her down. But she meets her match in Jamie (Gyllenhaal), whose relentless and nearly infallible charm serve him well with the ladies and in the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical sales. Maggie and Jamie's evolving relationship takes them both by surprise, as they find themselves under the influence of the ultimate drug: love. Written by Twentieth Century Fox
This film surprised me in a good way.
From the trailer and the posters to be found in many of the bus shelters of our town it would have been fair to have expected a routine rom-com. The pose struck by the leads Jake Gylenhall & Anne Hathaway on that poster just screamed "knock about rom-com,just like hundreds of others" It isn't though and that was a pleasant and engaging surprise.
Jake Gylenhall pulls off the role of super bright but super slacker son Jamie in a high achieving family well and is convincing as a magnetising presence that women find irresistible.
The absence of Anne Hathaway's character Maggie in the first segment of the film is the first suggestion that this will not be a routine paint by numbers romance and Maggie's introduction sets the scene for the complex character she successfully portrays.
This film covers a lot of ground and both of the leads are engaging and believable.
Issues such as serious illness, the workings of the big pharmaceutical companies and their attempts to influence the decision making of medical professionals, the struggle people have to pay for treatment and a believably complex love story are woven in without significant signposting or obvious plot twists.
Once again, the two lead actors were excellent and overall this made for an enjoyable and engaging film