- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish
- Rating: R
- Region: A (B? C?)
- Discs: 2 (1 x Blu-ray + Digital Copy)
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- Blu-ray Release Date: March 1, 2011
- List Price: $39.99
[amazon-product align=”right”]B004L3AQLU[/amazon-product]
Purchase Love & Other Drugs on Blu-ray + Digital Copy at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Why not just call this “Sex and More Sex” and, for obvious reasons, pair Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway again because it worked so well in Brokeback? Only this time, let’s play it straight, okay guys? Great, now go! Seriously, though, Love & Other Drugs couldn’t be more obvious if it poked a stick in everyone’s eye. But, the problem is, the film never finds its footing. It’s a rom-com, or is it?
Set in the 90’s against the commercial pharmaceutical boom, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Jamie, the fast-living womanizing pharmaceutical rep and Anne Hathaway is Maggie, an art school dropout who makes collages and is in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease. The two meet as Jake is pretending to be an intern in a doctor’s office and sneaking a peek at Maggie’s gorgeous breasts. Still he manages to score a date, and the two start getting it on – rather frequently – with some hot and sweaty sex. Of course, neither one of them wants a real relationship. Jake doesn’t because, well, he’s just used to playing the field and Maggie doesn’t because her disease complicates things.
Inevitably, though, things get, well, complicated and the two realize that they care for each other; and the “L word” starts getting tossed about. As Jake starts hawking his firm’s new wonder drug Viagra and is on the fast track to success headed straight for the top and Maggie’s symptoms worsen, their relationship hits the inevitable snag that everyone saw coming.
This is where the film breaks down. Is it a rom-com? A sexy adult comedy? Or a sickness/survivor drama? The filmmakers seemed confused, and so do I. I don’t know whether I should be weeping or getting horny. And, okay, Gyllenhaal and Hathaway have great chemistry, but are we really going to believe that this great looking guy on the fast track to being a top exec at Pfizer is really going to be in it for the long hall with someone he just met who’s deteriorating from Parkinson’s? I don’t know.
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
More evidence that the filmmakers where confused about what exactly they wanted to do with this film, Love & Other Drugs was shot more like a drama than a rom-com, but that does mean that it looks a lot better as well. There are warm earth tones, deep blacks with extended shadow details, natural flesh tones and a clean source.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
The audio mix is rather front-heavy, although there are a few moments where the music kicks in and things liven up. Still, it’s on the dull side, but it does provide clean dialogue, good dynamics, and decent amount of ambience.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
There are good supplements on here, all in high-definition, offering interviews with Gyllenhaal and Hathaway.
The supplements provided on this release are:
- Deleted Scenes (1080p/24)
- Love & Other Drugs: An Actor’s Discussion (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:08.00)
- Beautifully Complex: Anne Hathaway is Maggie (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:02.57)
- Reformed Womanizer: Jake Gyllenhaal is Jamie (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:03.34)
- Selling Love & Other Drugs (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:03.10)
- Theatrical Trailer (1.78:1; 1080p/24)
- Live Extras:
- Live Lookup
- Exclusive: Jake’s Favorite Scene
- Digital Copy
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
Love & Other Drugs looks great on Blu-ray and, I have to admit, I do have a bit of a thing for Anne Hathaway, but this film is just not up to snuff. It’s too confused, at times sexy, at times funny, and at times sad and morose. I say skip it, otherwise save it for a rainy day and rent it.
Additional Screen Captures:
[amazon-product align=”right”]B004L3AQLU[/amazon-product]
Purchase Love & Other Drugs on Blu-ray + Digital Copy at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
