Working Love

I saw Side Effects at the premier in Wisconsin and thought it was a wonderful film, despite a few technical issues. I found it to be enjoyable, informative and relevant. The acting was great, especially the boss-lady, Dorian DeMichele. I would have liked to see more of her on screen as she has a strong screen presence and a great deal of talent. Kathleen Heigl was believable and easy to watch, as was the rest of the cast. I have told my friends about this film and hoped it would travel to NYC where I live, but alas, it has not arrived. I recommend it, especially if you are in any way interested in the pharmaceutical industry. My only criticism was that the kissing scene went on a bit too long!

This film is about a young woman who markets medication to doctors. In the process, she became indulgent in the materialistic pleasures that the drug company can provide. In the end, she found her conscience taking over.

This film is refreshing. For a start, it is not every day that a film about drug companies gets made. Secondly the acting is great. Katherine Heigl portrays the emotions vividly, and is confident and convincing as a drug rep. In addition, the plot is also good, as we get to see how money is showered on the people involved to make drug reps work harder and to make doctors prescribe their drugs.

There are several "interviews" of doctors interspersed in the film, asking the doctors what they feel about the drug reps. In the beginning, the doctor does not like the reps. In the middle, the doctor has a neutral opinion. In the end, the doctor likes the drug rep. It provides an interesting contrast to Katherine Heigl's state of mind.

I think it does reflect what really happens in the drug companies. It exposes how marketing is disguised as 'education for the sake of prolonging life'. I recommend this film!

Side Effects is a movie that really suffers because of its budget. I think with more money there could have been more done to make this movie better. It basically ends up being an OK movie with a good heart and brain.

The movie plays up the ridiculousness of the American pharmaceutical business and does a good job of it. The story is really alright and I only have minor qualms with the script. The acting (aside from Heigl, who was great aside from her strange tantrum scene) is poor at best and some of the shots had me shaking my head. There seemed to be an inordinate amount of closeup shots of actor's faces in this film. I started realizing about halfway through the film how everything felt like it was zoomed in when it was just one person on screen.

The movie's got a good moral to it and I enjoyed the Madison backdrops, but with a little better funding and maybe some better editing and camera work, it really could have been a better film.

5 out of 10.

The screenplay is beyond clunky and obvious, and sounds as though it were written by a high school freshman. The supporting actors are painfully hammy. The film quality was lacking- out of focus half the time, and it seemed as though it were shot in full screen but being shown wide screen. The concept is there, it's just the execution that kills it all. Katherine Heigel had cute moments, but overall could not overcome the bad material. This is a movie that needed to be made, but should have been made well. The pacing drags, and the "wacky" jokes fall through. Don't waste your money. There are some indies that should never see the light of day, and this is one of them.

I'm still in shocked, wondering how come a movie can be so horrible done. This movie has good intentions. Trying to open people's eyes is always a good thing. But that's about it. Good intentions.

The movie follows the story about a young woman who finds herself into the world of the pharmaceutical industry, while trying to maintain her ideals and integrity.

20 minutes into the film, and you'll be already laughing at how bad is this movie. Sub plots coming out of nowhere, bad acting performances, lack of rhythm, no direction whatsoever, painfully edited, sometimes shots are even out of focus …. I can go on forever. Katherine Heigl tries to put something out of nothing, but that's just not enough.

I've rated a 3/10, only because of the good intentions of the film and a plus point for Katherine Heigl.