Better Living Through Chemistry [2013] Movie Review Recommendation

Better Living Through Chemistry [2014]

April 15, 2014

Sam Rockwell, we love you. Marry us and let us bear your children. I first noticed him in a phenomenal science fiction movie Moon and every time after that when I saw his name I knew that the movie will be at least watchable. The story as old as time itself: a smart guy who can’t stand up for himself is stuck in a boring marriage and a dead-end job. Not to mention his boss who doubles as his father in law. That’s just nasty, but we love nasty. Although the story is a bit stale and the characters have been seen a thousand times before, you develop sort of a Stockholm syndrome for this movie. They really tried to make it all work and succeeded, who are we to spoil their fun? And they don’t take themselves too seriously, they know they’re not making a cult classic here, but just a small indie flick.

Ye olde stuck in rut routine that plagues so much of the humanity nowadays is always worth exploring. Even in this relatively shallow but entertaining way. As always, you can take things a bit further and wonder how our homeboy ended up in this situation? Isn’t this everything he ever dreamed about? Would you be happy if you had his life?

Doug Varney just bought the pharmacy from his father in law and he’s feeling quite proud and happy. As it always happens in real life, those feelings are only temporary, and in Doug’s case, they are extremely temporary. He’s stuck in a dead-end job and boring marriage. However, one night all that will change. Screwed by one of his workers who failed to make home deliveries, he decided to do the job himself and met a bored wife of an extremely wealthy guy. The rest is up to you to find out. Enjoy!

The main characteristic of this movie is that it’s extremely easy to watch, especially with Olivia Wilde doing her thing in it (apparently, for me, that’s breathing (although breading would make me buy a Blu-ray)). With a great cast, familiar story and a good overall message, you don’t have to strain your brain with this one. Drugs make everything better, and this movie is not an exception. If you want to continue your exploration check out our selection of movies about drugs.

And while we’re on a subject of drugs and pharmacies, I have to recommend a documentary mini-series kind of related to this movie. The Pharmacist follows Dan Schneider on his quest for justice, truth and ultimately a better world…