Love and Other Drugs

Love and Other Drugs - Dir. Edward Zwick (2010)

Sometimes I just don't understand the strange decisions made by Hollywood executives. Love and Other Drugs had all the makings of an interesting film centered on a very timely concept. The film was based on the non-fiction book, Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman, written by Jamie Reidy, a former pharmaceutical salesman. With health care being a hot button topic, it seems like the perfect time for an inside look at the pharmaceutical industry. Instead, the studio plays it safe and whitewashes the story into yet another banal romantic comedy.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Jamie Randall, a med school dropout who has just been fired from his job in retail electronics after boning the boss's girlfriend in the stock room. Jamie quickly gets a job shilling medication with the corporate juggernaut known as Pfizer. In the pharmaceutical game, medical knowledge is hardly a necessity, but good looks and a winning personality are everything. A dizzying montage shows candidates memorizing sales pitches and dancing the Macarena at a garish orientation. Jamie aspires for the bigger market of Chicago, but gets the accounts in Iowa instead. There, he's to push Zoloft, an anti-depressant that is a distant second in sales to the more renowned Prozac. He shamelessly flirts with the receptionists to get his foot in the door and offers bribes to various doctors. Fortunes rise (pun slightly intended) with the creation of Viagra and Jamie leaps at the opportunity, "Who can sell a dick drug better than me?"

While pretending to be an intern, he meets Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway), a patient suffering from stage one Parkinson's disease. Jamie inadvertently glimpses her breast and gets pummeled in the parking lot when Maggie finds out he's a drug rep. Only in the movies does this ignite a star-crossed romance. At first, both parties are only interested in empty sex, but true feelings develop to complicate their relationship. Jamie worries about how he'll care for Maggie when her condition inevitably deteriorates while Maggie is concerned about holding Jamie's career back.

Love and Other Drugs feels like four or five different movies stitched together in a haphazard manner. The film starts off strong with an engaging first act that serves as a satire of the pharmaceutical industry. Once Maggie is introduced the story veers into the territory of a standard romantic comedy. When the Parkinson's subplot is emphasized, Other Drugs becomes a weepy melodrama similar to the all-time cheesy classic Love Story. The sentimental portion does provide one of the few genuine moments of the picture when Maggie leaves a medical convention for a support group for those afflicted with Parkinson's. Topping it all off is a heavy element of raunchiness straight out of the Apatow comedy playbook. The film's stars get naked frequently and there are the requisite boner jokes involving Viagra. They've also brought in Josh Gad, who acts like the love child of Jonah Hill and Jack Black, as Jamie's lazy brother. Every word out of his mouth is an annoying and horribly unfunny attempt at lowbrow humor. On the other hand, Gyllenhaal and his Brokeback Mountain beard Anne Hathaway are both good in the lead roles as is Gabriel Macht as a rival salesman. However, Judy Greer is underutilized as are George Segal and the late-Jill Clayburgh, who only appear in one scene as Jamie's parents.

Love and Other Drugs is a different kind of film from director Edward Zwick, who helmed Glory and The Last Samurai, but it fits right in with thirtysomething, the sappy and soapy television series he produced back in the early-90's. This is a completely disjointed affair that fails to find any semblance of balance between light comedy and heavy drama.

Rating: * ½ (*****)

Whiteout

Whiteout - Dir. Dominic Sena (2009)


2008 was a tremendous year for comic book movies thanks to runaway hits like Iron Man and The Dark Knight. They were joined by Hellboy II: The Golden Army and Wanted. That definitely made summer a happy time for fanboys even if the year ended on a sour note because of the box office bombs that were Punisher: War Zone and The Spirit. 2010 should be another big year with Iron Man 2, Kick-Ass, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World looming. It seems 2009 is the largely ignored middle child. Watchmen kicked things off in March while X-Men Origins: Wolverine opened the summer blockbuster season to big bucks and negative reviews. The next two comic book films, however, weren’t based on superheroes.

Whiteout is based on a graphic novel by crime novelist Greg Rucka with art by Steve Lieber and published by Oni Press. Rucka is one of DC Comics’ top writers and his other creator-owned series, Queen & Country is also in development. The film version of Whiteout takes a fantastic concept and tells it in the most predictable and pedestrian way possible.

Kate Beckinsale plays Carrie Stetko, a United States Marshal assigned to McMurdo Research Station in Antarctica. Stetko is haunted by her last case when she was betrayed by her partner and nearly killed. She takes the position in Antarctica to escape and deal with cases no more serious than missing equipment. Everything changes when the first murder in Antarctica occurs. A body is found out in the ice and Stetko must unravel the mystery as bodies pile up and a masked killer armed with a pick-axe runs loose. She is assisted by Robert Pryce (Gabriel Macht), a U.N. investigator; Delfy (Columbus Short), a young pilot; and friend Dr. John Fury (Tom Skerritt). The film’s ticking clock comes from the fact that the station’s crew is preparing to return home before a violent snowstorm hits the area making flights completely impossible.

Whiteout took a long, hard road through development hell to get to the big screen. It was originally optioned back in 1999 by Columbia then passed to Universal where Reese Witherspoon was attached to star and produce until departing. Whiteout finally went into production in 2007, but sat on the shelf until this past September where it was quickly forgotten. You’d think somewhere along the line, somebody would have done an extensive re-write on the script. The film plays out like a leftover episode of one of the many police procedurals that clog television airwaves. CSI: Antarctica, so to speak. The film opens with a prologue that gives away a major second act revelation. The rest of the picture is similarly lacking in mystery. The characters may be snow blind, but the audience can see everything coming a mile away.

Rating: **

The Spirit

The Spirit - Dir. Frank Miller (2008)


I wouldn´t presume to know what the late-Will Eisner would think of Frank Miller´s adaptation of his most renowned character. Suffice to say, I´d wager he might have the same befuddled expression on his face as I did as this bizarre concoction unfolded across the screen at my local multiplex.

Eisner is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of the comic book medium. The Spirit began life in 1940 as a Sunday newspaper comic strip. It was part-film noir, part-adventure with dark and lighthearted moments throughout its run. Eisner never dumbed down his creation, aiming for an adult audience. He revolutionized comic composition by freeing the strip from the confines of the typical panels used by other cartoonists. Eisner even coined the term ´graphic novel´ (used so frequently nowadays) to describe his semi-autobiographical book, A Contract with God.

Comic book fans know Frank Miller best for his magnum opus, The Dark Knight Returns, which many list as one of the greatest comics ever written and is mentioned in the same breath as the equally heralded Watchmen (which was released the same year). Miller´s work on Daredevil was largely the basis for the character´s much-maligned feature film while his Batman: Year One was certainly influential on Batman Begins. After a poor experience writing the scripts for Robocop sequels, Miller personally stayed away from Hollywood until Robert Rodriguez called to co-direct the big-screen adaptation of Sin City. Hot on its heels, Miller´s 300 was faithfully recreated by Watchmen director Zack Snyder and met with equal success. So it was only a matter of time before somebody gave Miller a chance to go solo.

Miller considered Eisner a friend and mentor. Conversations between the pair were published in Eisner/Miller, a comic book equivalent to Hitchcock/Truffaut. Miller took on the daunting task of bringing the Spirit to life mostly because he didn´t want somebody else ruining the character. A previous version filmed for television in 1987 was so bad it made Eisner´s "toes curl." From then on, Eisner was staunch in his refusal to allow anyone else to do it again. He rejected proposals to give the titular character superpowers or put him in superhero tights. Miller vowed to remain faithful and was even going to title the film, "Will Eisner´s The Spirit." I have no idea what changed his mind, but this is "Frank Miller´s The Spirit" all the way.

Our hero, played by Gabriel Macht, is Denny Colt, a beat cop who is gunned down, but somehow comes back to life. In the comics, Colt allowed everyone to still believe he was dead and adopted the alter-ego of the Spirit. He put on a blue three-piece suit, matching fedora, and a domino mask in order to fight crime in Central City. His origin remains mostly the same except he wears all black with a blood red tie. The Spirit´s arch-enemy is the Octopus, a mysterious crime boss whose face was never revealed in the strips. He was only recognized by a pair of purple gloves with yellow stripes. Here, he´s Samuel L. Jackson who wears a variety of outlandish outfits in his attempts to conquer the world. He constantly talks about eggs for some reason. Don´t ask. Oh, have I mentioned both men are invincible? Through some sort of cockamamie science project, the Spirit and the Octopus are rendered virtually indestructible. This is evidenced at the start of the film when the two engage in a one-on-one fistfight that´s usually saved for the climax. It isn´t just a fight, but a Looney Tunes horror show as the Spirit punches the Octopus in the face about two dozen times to no effect. They smash each other with several large objects including (literally) the kitchen sink. The battle culminates in the Octopus braining the Spirit with a toilet, then gleefully cackles, "C´mon, toilets are ALWAYS funny!"

This one fight largely sums up just about everything that is wrong with this picture. First off, any sort of suspense the audience might have is killed off because we know neither lead can be. Uh-oh, the Spirit just got pushed out a window. No worries, he can´t be killed. He just got stabbed with a sword? Riddled by a machine gun? The Spirit just shakes it off. Secondly, the fight runs far too long and the same can be said for the majority of the film. Some people love to hear the sound of their own voice. Frank Miller seems to be a man who loves to hear actors speak his lines. He packs in tons of dialogue leading to an overly talky film. Scenes and conversations go on and on with no point whatsoever. One minute, the Spirit is delivering a gruff, hard-boiled voice-over in the vein of Raymond Chandler, the next, he´s bantering with his colleagues in the style of a screwball comedy. Miller never seems to make up his mind whether he wants The Spirit to be a dark film noir, a frothy adventure or a campy comedy.

The film´s most infamous moment comes when the Spirit is captured and tied to a dentist´s chair, ready for torture. The Octopus emerges from behind a red curtain dressed in a Nazi officer´s uniform replete with monocle. There´s Nazi paraphernalia everywhere and the set looks like a commedia dell´arte remake of Triumph of the Will. It´s almost amusing in a WTF kind of way, but Miller drags the proceedings beyond the point of tolerance as the Octopus commits the cardinal super-villain sin. He monologues. Yes, this is the point in the movie where the bad guy reveals his origins and his detailed plans for world domination. I kept waiting for those folks from Monty Python and the Holy Grail to show up and scream, "Get on with it!" Ironically, the Spirit remarks that he's just plain "bored" by his nemesis. So am I, Spirit. So am I.

The crux of the story revolves around the Octopus´s endeavors to acquire the Blood of Herakles which will complete his transformation to immortality. By the time it´s all revealed, the audience has long since stopped caring. At least, there´s plenty of eye candy for the men. Miller has shown he has a strong predilection for sultry vixens and he makes sure there´s a wide assortment of beautiful ladies, each one falling head over heels for the masked protagonist. At the head of the class is Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), a world-class thief and the childhood sweetheart of the Spirit. However, the Spirit´s heart seems to belong to Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson), a doctor and daughter of the police commissioner (Dan Lauria). She´s the only good girl in the film. There´s Morgenstern (Stana Katic), an eager and earnest rookie cop. Working for the other side of the law are the Octopus´s girl Friday, Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson), and a dagger throwing belly dancer assassin named Plaster of Paris (Paz Vega). Finally, Jaime King appears in several interludes as the spectral siren, Lorelei Rox.

The ensemble cast also includes an army of dim-witted clones (each played by Louis Lombardi) who serve as the Octopus´s henchmen. These goofs are like something out of Batman. I'm not talking about the Christopher Nolan version or the Tim Burton incarnation, but the cartoonish Adam West series. Remember when the Joker would show up with goons adorned in black shirts with names like ´Tee-Hee,´ ´Ha-Ha,´ and ´Ho-Ho´? Well, these guys have names like ´Phobos,´ ´Nervos,´ and even ´Huevos´ and ´Rancheros.´ I´d call them comic relief, except I didn´t find them to be funny at all.

Miller uses the same green screen techniques from Sin City to create a stylish world cut from the same cloth. He highlights bright colors, such as red, and sprinkles in silhouette shots. Taken individually, they look great, but there´s no flow from scene to scene, especially during action sequences. It looks like they strung together a bunch of comic book panels without bothering to create transitions in between.

The acting is all over the place. Some actors seem to take the film seriously while others just ham it up. Jackson chews through his scenes like a piranha and normally that´s entertaining enough, but (just like his director) he´s just far too excessive for his own good and working with such flat dialogue didn´t help. As the lead, Macht is far too bland to really be effective as the square-jawed hero. Sarah Paulson is the only actor in the entire movie that plays their character as an actual human being.

2008 was a big year for comic book films. They started out strong then fizzled out as time progressed. Iron Man and The Dark Knight were both faithful translations and did gangbusters at the box office. Wanted wasn't quite as faithful to the source material, but was still a fun action flick. By year´s end, fanboys only got lackluster efforts like Punisher: War Zone and The Spirit.

I would have been fine with Frank Miller turning The Spirit into a spin-off of Sin City. It wouldn't have bothered me too much if he decided to do the movie as a tongue-in-cheek camp cartoon. I just wished Miller would have made up his mind. The Spirit suffers from an inconsistent tone and a complete lack of direction. The film goes nowhere fast and comes off as a self-indulgent exercise of unrestrained lunacy.

Rating: * 1/2