"Love and Other Drugs" - in theaters

This movie isn't getting as much love as I thought it would. The critics are saying that it's just "okay", and I find myself disagreeing with them. But of course, I like pretty much every movie that I see, so this isn't too big of a surprise.

The film centers around Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal), who when we first meet him is a salesman at a small electronics store. He's also banging his manager's girlfriend and when he gets caught, is chased out of the store with his pants down. Later that day, he goes over to his parents' house for dinner, where we find out that his two other siblings are wildly successful, while Jamie is an ADHD-diagnosed, med school drop out. When his younger brother, Josh (Josh Gad), suggests that Jamie become a drug rep, Jamie enrolls in a program quickly.

He's assigned to a Midwestern area, where his supervisor Bruce (Oliver Platt) tries to give him some tips on how to get doctors to use the drugs (in this case Zoloft) that they're pimping. The main guy they're trying to woo is Dr. Stan Knight (Hank Azaria), whose the big man in town. It is during one of the visits to Knight's office when Jamie first meets Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway), a new patient, who is in dire need of some medication for her early onset Parkinsons (and don't worry, because this is hardly a spoiler as you find out about this in the first scene with Hathaway).

From there, the two begin to have a very physical affair, until Jamie, surprise, surprise, starts to have feelings for Maggie. It's a basic formula for a film, but when you throw in the whole disease angle, it gives a fresher feeling.

Both Gyllenhaal and Hathaway spend an extraordinary amount of time without their clothes on, which really gives them a chance to flaunt their perfect bodies in your face. But their relationship is far from perfect, so that makes us ordinary Joes feel a bit better about ourselves.

The performances were pretty good. Jake and Anne have great chemistry (and they've worked together before, which helps), but I thought that the relationship between Jamie and Josh was the most interesting. My roommate believes both of them to be sex addicts, so to add that spin on things really makes their relationship even more twisted than it should be.

So on the CWeave scale, I give this movie a 7. Not the best, but definitely not the worst. I laughed, I cried, I cringed - all the ingredients for a good cinematic experience.

"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" - in theaters

I soooooooo wanted this movie to be spectacular. My thought process went as follows: Oh, it's Disney. It's Jerry Bruckheimer. It's going to be like Pirates of the Caribbean all over again!

But alas, this movie fell short.

The story revolves around Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), an orphan boy of Persia who by happenstance gets adopted by the King, and spends his adolescence fighting with his brothers instead of against starvation. But anyway, all three brothers and their uncle (Ben Kingsley wearing entirely too much guy-liner) are hanging with the army when they decide to attack one of their more religious cities, based on some shoddy information if you ask me. However, they attack, and Dastan gets his hands on a dagger that seems to be very important to the princess of the city, Tamina, played by Gemma Arterton.

Come to find out, this dagger can turn back time. And before you know it, Dastan is framed for his father's death, and his brothers are hunting him and the princess down. Their adventures take many turns, but the most entertaining is when they enter the Valley of the Slaves (at least that's what I think it's called), and come across Sheik Amar, played by Alfred Molina. The audience always loves a gambler and degenerate, and Molina delivers on that note.

Personally I was a bit confused as to what happened during the film's climax, but of course, everything turns out the way it should in true Disney fashion.

Overall, the effects were cartoony (which was a real disappointment, given the director was Mike Newell, who helmed "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince), and the acting, save for Molina, was sub-par. I was expecting a lot more, especially out of Gyllenhaal, but I was disappointed. His hair was quite gross, and considering he lived in the frickin' desert, a trip to the tanning salon wouldn't have been out of order. Not to mention his accent sounded ridiculous. I mean, I'm just sayin'....

So on the CWeave scale, I rate this a 5.5. And let's be honest here: it would've scored higher if Jake had his shirt off more. But I'll tell you one thing: although it was no "Pirates", it sure was better than "Sex and the City 2".