Love and Other Drugs: Reels for Thought

If there is a movie that was made for someone like me, who has a degree in health policy and loves the intersection of media and society, it’s Love and Other Drugs. This film shows the average American many of the real problems that exist in our healthcare system, in a way that holds the viewer’s attention in a witty manner.  The film manages to intertwine an entertaining love story throughout, without overshadowing the other aspects of the story. Anne Hathaway’s performance opens the psyche of people with long term illness, a growing issue for healthcare providers.

Some aspects of this movie were far from accurate, but viewers need to realize they’re not watching a documentary, but a story with a message in mind, like any good screenplay. I have a lot of friends in the medical community and I know that a doctor’s first priority is what is best for the patient. There are exceptions to every rule, but as  Josh Randall (Josh Gad), states at the beginning of the film, “you don’t become a doctor to get rich”. This movie plays on exposing in an exaggerated way that drug companies are indeed running the show of the American healthcare system.  The senior citizen bus to Canada to get low cost prescriptions not only illustrates a huge problem in the system, it adds depth to the story, showing Maggie Murdock’s (Hathaway) investment in healthcare in light of her own struggles with the system.

 Love and Other Drugs uses many film clichés, that usually would be sinful for screenwriters, but they are used well to bring life to a message far more entertaining than any Michael Moore documentary.  A 26-year old with Parkinson’s who pushes people away is a pretty standard character in the film world, however, it works well and the sexual promiscuity of Maggie develops the character further, demonstrating her want to be needed as much as she will soon need to rely on others. Even funny moments bring light to current problems in the healthcare system, such as playing on the fact that insurance is the only gate to care.  A doctor asks Maggie if she has insurance, Maggie pulls out a wad of cash, and the doctor nods, wide eyed, and begins to examine her.  Love and Other Drugs brings a new light to the way people look at healthcare in a pleasurable way that will have you leaving the theater feeling artistically and politically stimulated.