Sunday, August 29, 2010

Reel People: Jake Gyllenhaal is Jamie Reidy

The film is Love and Other Drugs, and is directed by Edward Zwick (Glory, Legends of the Fall, Defiance, Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai). The film is based on the non-fiction book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman by Jamie Reidy.

Jamie Reidy

Jamie Reidy attended Norte Dame on an ROTC scholarship that landed him in the Army upon graduation. He was a lieutenant in the army for 3 years spending much of his time in Japan before jumping at the chance to leave the army early.

After leaving the army, he was unemployed and found himself living at his parents home until he got the opportunity to get a job as a pharmaceutical sales rep for the pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer. Reidy jumped at the opportunity for a job and the $40,000 starting salary.

For 5 years, Reidy would describe in his book, he learned how to milk the system and minimize his own workload by meeting the quotes required in providing doctors with samples and having them sign off on various things that would indicate to Pfizer he had been working. Reidy states he spent most of his days at home, started work at 10am, finished before 3pm, and at times would travel overseas and fake calls to his boss' pretending he was in the United States outside doctor's offices.

This light work schedule allowed him the opportunity to write Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman, although it was not published while working with Pfizer.

During time with Pfizer he was in urological sales division and prior to quiting was the number 1 Viagra sales rep in the nation.

In 2000 he quit to take a job with Eli Lilly where he sold oncology drugs, which he took more seriously. He and his sales partner became the number one sellers in the nation and he was moved from his role as a sales agent to sales trainer.

In 2005 his book was published, which led to Eli Lilly firing Reidy.

Reidy has sold the rights to his book to be made into a movie, and is working on a second book about his Eli Lilly experience which is tentatively called "Hard Feelings."

Love and Other Drugs

Edward Zwick is not none for his comedy or light hearted contemporary fair. He has attempted a romantic-comedy type of film only once before, and that was the 1986 film About Last Night..., staring Rob Lowe and Demi Moore, based on a David Mamet play.

In the film Gyllenhaal will play Reidy (who is sometimes listed as Jamie Randall in some film listings). Anne Hatheway co-stars as Gyllenhaal's love interest in the film, named Maggie Murdock.

Other performers include Hank Azaria, Oliver Platt and George Segal.

Charles Randolf, Edward Zwick, and Marshall Herskovitz co-wrote the script based off Reidy's memoir.

Will Gyllenhaal's performance be one of the rare critically loved comical performances of the year? Could this portrayal of a pharmaceutical sales rep earn him his second Oscar nomination, and perhaps even a win for portraying this Real (Reel) Person?

1 comment:

4rx said...

I was able to watch this movie. It's cool that they were able to include one of the best sex enhancers, the Viagra. It's indeed a wonderful product intended to satisfy the needs of men when it comes to sex.