Better Living Through Chemistry (2014)

Pretty Good

Absolutely the worst movie.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Nothing new here, just rehashing plots that are centuries old. That might work if the characters are interesting - or even likable. In this case the main characters and actors are fairly unlikable, and everybody just seems to be going through the motions.Those on the periphery promise a little more entertainment but they're very much bit-part players. In the main, what we get is just dull, uninspired, uninteresting, unoriginal, mediocre quality writing and acting.Please take my advice and don't waste precious moments of your life on mindless drivel like this.

Another to add to the list of recent films about grown folks you just don't want to grow up. Here again you have a guy who seemingly has it all: career, home and family but it just is not enough. I mean, so what if you have a wife, kids, RESPONSIBILITY. There is a whole world out there just waiting for you and after all, it is YOUR happiness that counts. If YOU cannot be happy, then how can you make anyone else happy? So of course your kid, who is desperately crying out for help (and a father figure) will be "better off" if you abandon the family home to "find yourself." And cheating on your wife, well, that's cool too because, well, just because it is, damn it! And considering murdering your mistress' husband so the two of you can run off together is cool too. Again, never mind you have a 12- year old son in crisis mode. So, you allow yourself to become addicted to drugs because that is what your mistress likes and it does make sex so much more fun, particularly if you are a pharmacist who can whip things up right in the lab. But then, just as easily you apparently kick your drug habit and allow some other schmuck to take the rap for your felonious drug crimes. All a bunch of tripe that I suppose somebody can identify with or rather, too bad so many people probably will identify with.

This was a decent movie, kind of what you would expect if you could mate Friends with Breaking Bad but with a lot more sex. Throw in a really hot chick to make the sex scenes all that much more interesting to watch and you can almost forgive the cookie cutter script. Hey his wife is a bitch, gosh why doesn't he get out of that relationship. Ah, he's a bit too wimpy to do anything about his life, i'm betting that will change if a hot girl could walk into his life ... oh here comes one now. Look at that, she's a perfect 10 and wants to bang a solid 3, must be some ulterior motive for that I bet ... say why hasn't a perfect 10 walked into my life yet and use sex to exploit me? Did I mention she's hot to look at? It always helps to have a hot girl to look at when you've written a plot that's guessable by my 8 year old. So what made the movie watchable? I mean, other than her. Well, the acting was quite good, it moved along at a nice pace, it had car sex ... twice! ... and the girl was hot. Darn it, have I mentioned that one time too many yet? Oh and Ray Liotta is a nice guy for once, but he looks old. Every actor has a movie where you notice how old he's suddenly gotten, this is 'that' movie for Ray. Across the street from me here in Bangkok, there's a 711 and beside that a little tiny pharmacy with old jars and glasses behind the rusty old table that serves as a counter. The 80 year old 'pharmacist' takes the cork out of one of those jars and spills 100 Xanax on the glass counter asking how many I need. She drops them into a soup bag, wraps it with an elastic band and hands it over for 100 Baht looking at me with a crooked smile and a twinkle in her eye.I wonder if she sees me as a hot male version of Michelle Monaghan? Good god, does that mean I have to do it with her in a Tuk-Tuk , twice?

"Better Living Through Chemistry" (2014 release; 92 min.) brings the story of Doug Varney (played by Sam Rockwell), who is stuck in an unhappy marriage, and who has just bought the pharmacy from his father- in-law. One evening, Doug is making house deliveries of prescriptions, and one of those deliveries is to a McMansion, where the doorbell is answered by Elizabeth, a beautiful yet bored and unhappy housewife (played by Olivia Wilde). It's not long before Doug and Elizabeth hit it off, setting Doug on a path of personal discovery. In a parallel story, Doug is dealing with his 12 year old son who is going through a tough stretch himself. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.