{"id":140026,"date":"2014-03-10T00:01:19","date_gmt":"2014-03-10T07:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shockya.com\/news\/?p=140026"},"modified":"2014-02-28T18:56:37","modified_gmt":"2014-03-01T01:56:37","slug":"better-living-through-chemistry-movie-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shockya.com\/news\/2014\/03\/10\/better-living-through-chemistry-movie-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Better Living Through Chemistry Movie Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><strong>BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>Samuel Goldwyn Films<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten. Data-based on Rotten Tomatoes<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>Grade: \u00a0B<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>Director: \u00a0Geoff Moore, David Posamentier<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>Screenplay: Geoff Moore, David Posamentier<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>Cast: \u00a0Olivia Wilde, Michelle Monaghan, Sam Rockwell, Ray Liotta, Jane Fonda, Norbert Leo Butz<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>Screened at: \u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>Opens: \u00a0March 14, 2014<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>If you watch TV at all, especially the programs (like the news) that cater to people over the age of forty, you\u2019re aware of ads for pharmaceutical products that seem to promise that if you take this pill you may get heart disease, weakened bones, irritation, rashes, hives, a lower immune system, and death. \u00a0Since most of the ads tell us the bad effects, one wonders whether Big Pharma knows what it\u2019s doing in spreading this information, which of course it would not do unless the FDA required those caveats. \u00a0Now comes a movie that at first appears to counteract all the bad things in those ads, promising better living through chemistry. \u00a0Until the side effects kick in, all\u2019s well and good and, in fact, the two principal characters wind up liberating themselves as a result of their experience with pharmaceuticals, both legal and otherwise.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>It helps that one of the funniest actors in the business, Sam Rockwell, takes one of the two lead roles, in this case that of a small town druggist in a town called Woodbury, a suburban area that writer-directors Geoff Moore and David Posamentier introduce to us a though it were a model town on an architect\u2019s drawing board. \u00a0In a way, it is a model of small-town America, featuring a happy letter carrier, a friendly police officer, a DEA inspector who is genial up to a point, a father-in-law who is often a pain in the butt. \u00a0As for Douglas Varney (Sam Rockwell), he\u2019s doing OK in a life that simply goes on day after day, a man who needs to be challenged to get out from the domination of in-law Walter Bishop (Ken Howard), who retires from the pharmacy business and advises his son-in-law Douglas to keep the name Bishop\u2019s, because that\u2019s the name that people have relied upon. \u00a0His wife Kara (Michelle Monaghan) is bicycling fanatic who probably takes out so much energy leading a gym class on stationary bikes that she has no time for sex.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The routine changes when Doug, delivers a prescription in the town\u2019s swankiest house, to Elizabeth Roberts (Olivia Wilde), a trophy wife who is not fond of her husband (Ray Liotta). \u00a0They fall into each other\u2019s arms, two people in need of more excitement that their current lives give them. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t take long before they consider doing away with Elizabeth\u2019s usually absent husband. \u00a0As they embark on a whirlwind of drugs, sex, rock-and-roll, Doug becomes so liberated that he is able to gain new rapport with his mischievous son Ethan (Harrison Holzer).<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Though it\u2019s difficult to imagine a stunner like Elizabeth\u2019s going for a schlemiel like Douglas, the bond gains credibility as each is missing what life could offer. \u00a0Still, like a great drug with bad side effects, Doug\u2019s habits attract the attention of an amiable DEA agent, and Doug\u2019s career seems ready to go down and out.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The picture was originally to be cast with Jeremy Renner as Douglas and Jennifer Garner as the sensuous Elizabeth, but no matter. \u00a0Wilde and Rockwell, however ill-matched they might at first appear, do make a credible pair and this lighter-than-air, somewhat sit-comish movie is a welcome entry into the field of easy-to-take entertainment. \u00a0The film was shot over five weeks in Maryland.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><strong>Unrated. 91 minutes. \u00a0\u00a9 2014 by Harvey Karten, Member, New York Film Critics Online<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>Story \u2013 B<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>Acting \u2013 B<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>Technical \u2013 B<\/strong><\/div>\n<div><strong>Overall &#8211; B<\/strong><\/div>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY \u00a0 Samuel Goldwyn Films Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten. Data-based on Rotten Tomatoes Grade: \u00a0B Director: \u00a0Geoff Moore, David Posamentier Screenplay: Geoff Moore, David Posamentier Cast: \u00a0Olivia Wilde, Michelle Monaghan, Sam Rockwell, Ray Liotta, Jane Fonda, Norbert Leo Butz Screened at: \u00a0 Opens: \u00a0March 14, 2014 If you watch TV [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-release","category-reviews"],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Better Living Through Chemistry Movie Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY \u00a0 Samuel Goldwyn Films Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten. 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