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Love and other drugs: Jake Gyllenhaal, a suave casanova who falls in love

Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal attending Love & Other Drugs premiere in Sydney on 6th December 2010

"It's extraordinary — sick, a little bit, but extraordinary to see, in the world of selling, where that gets you," Gyllenhaal says. It wasn't his world — he comes from a family so scrupulous that his bar mitzvah was held in a homeless shelter so that he would appreciate his own good fortune — but he has an actor's eye for its peculiar energy.
"Jamie is such a storyteller and has such a rhythm that became a huge part of who this guy was," Gyllenhaal says.
"She was kind of this shell of what she is now, the quirky girl who comes in and takes control," Gyllenhaal says. "When Annie came on board, she said, 'This needs to be a love story; it needs to be two people being changed by each other as opposed to this guy's journey'.
And I agreed. That is our relationship, I think. You'll find actors vying for attention and I don't think she and I really do." "It did help that we had been sort of naked together in Brokeback Moun-tain," Gyllenhaal says. "So we had been cinematically devirginised to each other."
They also were able to agree with the director, Edward Zwick, that nothing they shot would be under contract — "you know, where you can only see this part of his butt and her breast for so many seconds" — and that, in return, they could veto any shot that made them uncomfortable. "In terms of getting intimate, I didn't think about it," Gyllenhaal says. "I mean, I really didn't. And I don't. The thought that was on our minds was telling a good love story."
Gyllenhaal is 30 years old next week. He feels at a point of transition. "I don't know if it's to do with turning 30 but I do feel like there's a big sea change with who I am and what I want to do, what I care about," he says. "I do feel that."
In one respect, at least, he feels something in common with his character — a kind of tranquillity. "When I was younger I always wanted to be ahead of where I was," he says. "Whereas now I feel that this is where I am. And I feel good about that." You can't get cooler than that". Source: www.smh.com.au

"Gyllenhaal was able to provide a very dynamic performance, demonstrating a significant change in a suave Casanova looking for a fun time, to a man in love who wants to be with his beloved, regardless of any obstacles. Also, despite the awkwardness of the storyline and the unnecessary overkill of nudity, Love and Other Drugs may still be Hathaway's career-best; she plays Maggie Murdock impeccably, making sure to appropriately portray and not force the emotions of her character.The issues dealt with in Love and Other Drugs are very much adult and not in the least bit relatable to a teenager who faces only the trivial matters of everyday life. For instance, it is unfathomable to believe that the average teenager would consider using sexual favors to push a product in order to meet company selling quotas, as Randall faithfully demonstrated within the first few moments of the film.
Love and Other Drugs leaves the American public uncomfortable with many scenes, as it not only deals with the more mature themes, but it also incorporates a sex scene into the film about every 20 minutes or so, making the movie very similar in nature to European cinema". Source: www.inside-beat.com

Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway share an addictive love story in "Love and other drugs" (2010)