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| German title: “Side Effects Included” |
Directed by: Edward Zwick
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Oliver Platt
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Oliver Platt
Written by: Charles Randolph, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz
Running Time: I hour, 52 minutes
Rating: R
Pre-Conceived Notions: For a long time, this movie was not on my radar. It was just one of those quirky rom-coms in the ebb and flow of quirky rom-coms, like Along Came Polly or Friends with Benefits, or anything Meg Ryan has ever done. It wasn’t until I joined Phamaly, a theater group for people with disabilities in Denver, Colorado, that my interest was piqued. I found out that one of my cast mates in the production I was in, Lucy Roucis, had a pretty significant scene in this film as the stand up comedian with Parkinson’s disease. Since that production last year, I’ve been fortunate to work with Lucy again, and count her as a friend.
It’s always weird to see a friend in a movie or a TV show, because your brain switches from the reality of the thing you’re watching to, “Oh, look! I know them!” and it kind of takes you out of it. But you’re still super proud of that friend and you have one more name to put in that bag of names for when yet another name dropping fight breaks out.
Why I Haven't Seen This Film: I’ll tell you what I told my friend (who was an extra in a Bollywood movie once) the other night at trivia: There’s a reason I have a movie review blog entitled No, I Really Haven’t Seen That One. Stop Laughing.
Rating: R
Pre-Conceived Notions: For a long time, this movie was not on my radar. It was just one of those quirky rom-coms in the ebb and flow of quirky rom-coms, like Along Came Polly or Friends with Benefits, or anything Meg Ryan has ever done. It wasn’t until I joined Phamaly, a theater group for people with disabilities in Denver, Colorado, that my interest was piqued. I found out that one of my cast mates in the production I was in, Lucy Roucis, had a pretty significant scene in this film as the stand up comedian with Parkinson’s disease. Since that production last year, I’ve been fortunate to work with Lucy again, and count her as a friend.
It’s always weird to see a friend in a movie or a TV show, because your brain switches from the reality of the thing you’re watching to, “Oh, look! I know them!” and it kind of takes you out of it. But you’re still super proud of that friend and you have one more name to put in that bag of names for when yet another name dropping fight breaks out.
Why I Haven't Seen This Film: I’ll tell you what I told my friend (who was an extra in a Bollywood movie once) the other night at trivia: There’s a reason I have a movie review blog entitled No, I Really Haven’t Seen That One. Stop Laughing.
Bit-O-Trivia from the IMDb Trivia Page: “At one point, director Edward Zwick jumped into bed with Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal for a group shot. This shot was used for the film’s poster, with Zwick digitally removed.”
1 hour, 52 minutes (and a little more) later…: Okay. Despite having my DVD player screw up three times, and having to reboot my computer 3 times and then paying $2.99 for the Amazon Prime version of the movie (this is how much I love you, the 6 people who read this blog), I really liked this movie.
I have to say that I related to this movie on many different levels. Right off the bat, being the grandson of a medical doctor growing up and getting various Christmas presents with prescription drug advertisements printed on them through the years, it kind of made me miss my childhood a little bit. And seeing the way the film talks about the commodification of illness kind of made me sick to my stomach. It’s like the drug companies aren’t out to find cures for illnesses. They’re corporations. All they care about is profits, and pushing pills. Anyway, this blog isn’t a soapbox for how screwed up our health care system is, so I’ll move on.
I can’t speak for other people, I can only speak for myself, but this film really struck a chord with me that I think I share with every physically handicapped person out there if they have Parkinson’s or cerebral palsy or whatever. And that is the worry about being adequate in a relationship. Why would anyone want to be in a relationship with someone with mobility issues? So, I saw a lot of myself in Anne Hathaway’s character, which I never expected with this movie.
…and then I saw my friend appear out of nowhere and do a standup routine. It was great to see her way back then, doing some of the jokes I’ve heard her do a couple times since I met her. I didn’t know her during the time she made the movie, and it gave me a real insight to how resilient a lady she is. Her Parkinson’s may have progressed since then, but she still has a devastating sense of humor, and a smile that will knock you off your feet. But there is one thing that I didn’t get in her stand up: One of the things she says is, “Fuck brushing your teeth.” Call me ignorant or whatever, but I would think Parkinson’s would make brushing your teeth a little easier. Maybe not. But I totally get the soup thing.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway were amazing, as per usual. Gyllenhaal played a pitch perfect egomaniac and Hathaway made your heart break over and over as her character was fighting to accept the hand that life dealt her. And kudos to Josh Gad who was the perfect comic relief as the socially awkward little brother.
Final Thoughts: I take back what I said about this movie being a rom-com in an endless stream of rom-coms. This is so much more than that. This movie dares to discuss the intricacies of dating and having a relationship for people with disabilities. I know a lot of other movies do that, but this one was different. Anne Hathaway didn’t die at the end. She understood that she could have a relationship and accept her disability at the same time. I’m pretty impressed that Hollywood would make a movie like that. One of the only problems I had with the movie is he unsatisfying resolution of the Trey Hannigan character. Randall really should have punched his lights out towards the end or something. But that’s my only gripe. 5.5 slices of pizza.
