The Blu-Ray of Love and Other Drugs fell through my letter box yesterday. Perfect timing because I have been incapacitated by an unforgiving neck (hence no cinema trips this week). I’m delighted to confirm that the Blu-Ray is indeed region free. I’m also thrilled to report that the film does not suffer by its squeezing into a disc format. Quite possibly, the reverse is true. I found that I enjoyed Love and Other Drugs all the more when it was confined to the width of my TV and its drama was brought into my home.
This isn’t a review of the film, I’ve done that before. Instead, here is a look at the features although a bit of a moan about what we didn’t get is also in order. No commentary, for instance. Not even a syllable. And while there are two discs, one is preserved for the digital copy. The main disc contains the film, three deleted scenes, an Actors’ Discussion, and three brief documentaries. And that is it.
The deleted scenes
In the first deleted scene, Jamie (Gyllenhaal) and Maggie (Hathaway) discuss Trey Hannigan while making out within the confines of a car. This clearly expands the couple’s interest in one another outside four walls and an occasional alleyway.
The second scene sees Jamie and Bruce (Oliver Platt) discussing Jamie’s triumphant taking of Chicago. Unfortunately, Bruce’s excitement at this gives him every symptom of a heart attack and Jamie has to experience the cutting edge of a hospital with not enough doctors. Finally, Jamie stands and watches an old couple leave, supporting each other.
The final deleted scene shows Jamie and Maggie fighting in a hotel room about something they can’t even put their finger on. It begins with Jamie taking off Maggie’s boot and it escalates from there.
Documentaries
The Actors’ Discussion – Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway and director Ed Zwick discuss why the chemistry worked so well between these actors, beginning with the ‘summer camp’ of Brokeback Mountain and progressing to here.
In two other brief features Jake and Anne discuss the creation of their characters: Beautifully complex – Anne Hathaway is Maggie and Reformed womanizer – Jake Gyllenhaal is Jamie.
In Selling Love and Other Drugs, Jamie Reidy, the author of Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman, discusses how Jake, for instance, nails The Lean-In and how the receptionists are what counts when it comes to breaking in to the surgery and the stockroom.
All very brief but fortunately the film is what counts here and it has adapted perfectly for an evening’s home entertainment.
Love and Other Drugs is out on Blu-Ray/DVD in the US on 1 March and in the UK on 9 May. Fortunately, as I’ve mentioned, the Blu-Ray is region-free.
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