Customer Reviews

Side Effects

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

At the very beginning of "Side Effects," our heroine, Karly Hert (Katherine Heigl), tells us that she sells drugs for a living, quickly adding that she does it legally. Karly is not a drug pusher; she is a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company. Writer/director/producer Kathleen Slatery-Moschkau worked several years in just such a job, so her objective here is to air the industry's dirty laundry and possibly convince you that drug pushers might not be that bad in comparison for the simple reason that the drug companies do not take as much of your money.

Katy is hired by the company, not because she knows anything about pharmaceuticals, but because she is a babe. However, Katy is not really comfortable in a corporate world where making money is the bottom line and her boss prefers that she wear panty hose is she is gong to wear a skirt. On the other hand, when they hired her they gave Katy a company car and that is nothing to sneeze at. Then Katy meets Zach Danner (Lucian McAfee), who is the antithesis of the world in which she lives. Zach's goal is build his own house and this ideal makes up for the fact he does not look like your typical leading man in a movie. Still, Katy is committed to their future together and circles the date on the calendar when she will quit her job so they can go built their home in the woods.

At that point "Side Effects" takes an interesting satirical turn because Katy decides that instead of following the company's scripts for selling durgs she is going to tell doctors the truth (to wit, their product is not any better than comparable products by their competitors, just more expensive). I thought Slatery-Moschkau was going to take more advantage of this approach, like they did in the Dudley Moore movie "Crazy People" did with its hysterical shtick of telling the truth in commercial advertising, but it becomes a minor yet ironic joke as her unorthodox approach makes Katy successful and gets her on the management track. That means a nicer company car and as her unscrupulous company gears up for the release of the new anti-depressant that they want to turn into a billion dollar blockbuster, Katy finds herself being led into temptation and putting her future with Zach in doubt.

Although "Side Effects" is clearly a work of passion and personal commitment for Slatery-Moschkau, she clearly wears too many hats in making this film. After all, this is her first film and her objectives would be better served by a writer and a director with more experience. What she does have going for her is that she has gotten Katherine Heigl to play the lead role and even persuaded her to do a couple of semi-nude scenes (the term now being defined as seeing the side of the breasts but drawing the line at coming close to seeing a nipple). Heigl has the babe part down and her winsome personality makes up for a lot of the flaws of this film. However, I fully admit that in the end I round up on this film simply because while I would hope that the idea pharmaceutical companies are interested first and foremost with making profits is not news to anybody, it never hurts to be reminded of the fact and to take a look behind the curtain.

Slatery-Moschkau does a filmmaker commentary that offers an inside look at the making of the film, but also a medical commentary where she explores the medical issues brought up in the film, based on her decade working for the pharmaceutical industry. So you can regulate how outraged you want to be by what these companies are doing as you go through the DVD's special features. Slatery-Moschkau followed up this film with a documentary this year, "Money Talks: Profits Before Patient Safety," which is obviously compatible with the position of this 2005 film. Too bad the film does not offer any solutions to the problems it details beyond the basic belief that drug companies should not be doing what they are doing.

Before I saw this movie I had never given much thought to the pharmaceutical industry. I got my prescriptions filled at Walgreens and took them dutifully, without any consideration as to how that presciption ended up in my hands.

'Side Effects' is eye-opening without being the least bit didactic as it follows new-grad Karly Hert's career trajectory as a pharmacutical rep. She masters the tactics her employers encourage her to use to peddle her wares to doctors, enjoying increasing financial success even as she questions the ethical implications of her work.

With a feel-good ending that I won't spoil, 'Side Effects' succeeds as both a post-college coming-of-age story and an investigation of the sales tactics of the pharmaceutical industry. Katherine Heigl is fantastic as the wide-eyed and increasingly jaded Karly, and don't miss Dorian DeMichele as Karly's unscrupulous boss. A must see.

Saw this in a east village theater (two boots) and it rocked.

Katherine Heigl takes on a much meatier role than her current model/doctor-in-training in prime time.

Dorian DeMichele, who plays the ruthless yet seductive Jacqueline, is incredible. I didn't know if I wanted to boo her or woo her!

It was a terrific and important movie for everyone to see, I cannot believe it was made so fast and with such a small budget. Katherine Heigl was fantastic and I loved the chemistry she shared with Lucian McAfee. Not only was the story fantastic it was scary to realize how true this movie is. Congratulations to Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau on a great movie, one I hope everyone will see across the country.

An eye opening educational experience on how the pharma industry really works. It definitely will make me think twice before running out and filling my next prescription. Yes, the acting could better, as could the editing, however, thats why it is an indie film. For this being Slattery-Moschkau's first attempt at film making, I think she did a terrific job! The story is one that needs to be told, and Slattery-Moschkau did so in a fun and entertaining way!!

This movie has a lot of strikes against it - the different "locations" are frequently the same room with furniture rearranged. Narrative devices like text on screen or interlude interviews are picked up and abandoned at random. Subplots (in particular, those involving Karly's best friend and the rest of her family) are never resolved, and the dialogue is frequently clunky exposition of company rhetoric. Many of the supporting actors are obviously not in the same league as the main players, and it's not hard to predict the plot points of the film.

But the movie has heart and a winning lead actress in Katherine Heigl, and this movie has become one of my guilty pleasures. As a medical professional, I have heard all of the arguments for and against drug reps as depicted in this film, but the scenes where Karly shows how hard it is to do her job were particularly convicting. Corporate ethics aside, these are personal issues, and most of these people are just trying to pay the bills. The movie really humanizes the industry reps, even if the characters themselves aren't exactly three-dimensional.

And yes, Katherine Heigl takes her top off. Twice. I would consider it exploitative except that she executive produced this movie, and in that case, if you've got it, flaunt it. The brief nudity does fit logically into the scenes.

In the end, I recommend watching this movie with as light a heart as possible (and a little vodka, if you've got it). It's not revolutionary, but it raises good discussion points, and it will give you a fix until you can see Katherine Heigl on the far superior Grey's Anatomy.

This movie was very impressive, being the budget that the filmmaker was on. Kathreine Heigl made the movie fun to watch. I knew nothing about the pharmaceutical industy, and this movie got me interested and aware of what goes on.

I have been nothing but impressed with this small indie flick. Side Effects defies all odds as one of the only independent films I have ever seen that tries to make a statement while keeping its head above water in a sea of Hollywood mass-production. With a small budget, Side Effects manages to engage compassion, enlighten, and even stimulate your inner-activist.
Katherine Heigl from Grey's Anatomy proves that she is beyond capable of crossing over from television to the Silver Screen. As Karly Hert (the seductive yet sweet pharmaceutical sales rep with a conscience) Heigl is powerful and believable. She is in over 90% of the film, and carries the load effortlessly.
If you are looking for something that Hollywood isn't giving you, or if you are at all interested in how those anti-whatever pills you were prescribed got from the factory to your medicine cabinet, check out Side Effects.

Funny, entertaining and thought provoking! I loved this film! Katherine Heigl nailed the role of Karly, the driven pharmaceutical sales rep with a conscience. She is a pleasure to watch on screen. Writer/Director Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau's debut screenplay flows beautifully, with just the right blend of comedy, romance, and the veracity of the pharmaceutical industry's claims regarding their drugs. At the end of this film you'll be left with two questions: 1)What's the truth behind the pill I'm about to pop? 2)What's on Slattery-Moschkau's plate next?

If you were living in Madison, Wisconsin and Lucifer appeared at your front door, offered you a Mercedes, jewelry, and lots of "mad money" in exchange for your soul, would you accept the offer? While no one is likely to enter into such a bargain with a horned man in red leotards, consider what happens when the "he" is a she employed by a major pharmaceutical company. The twist on the temptation scenario is only one of the unexpectedly fresh innovations of Side Effects, an indie film written and directed by Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau. The innovations are some of the film's most significant accomplishments and failures. They deserve mention because they highlight the strengths and weaknesses of both the writer-director and cast.

One startling aspect of the film is how many innovations it contains. For example, the big money corporate drama unfolds in don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it Madison, Wisconsin. An educated sales woman, Karly Hert played by Katherine Heigl, wrestles through a Faustian struggle. Lucifer in this case takes the form of a stylish, attractive, sales executive named Jacqueline, played by Dorian DeMichele. On Karly's other metaphoric shoulder sits an angelic influence in the form of a romantic suitor, Lucian McAffee's convincing Zach Danner. Throughout the story women are on top of the power structure. The main male is a stay at home character. These items are strengths that set up the drama and propel it in a way that a documentary, for example, could not sustain.

The weakness of the film is how ineffectively its strengths are exploited. The first third of the film meanders through the start of the romance between Karly and Zach, but Zach all but disappears during the second half. The conversations between the lovers about the pharmaceutical industry are preachy and overwrought. Meanwhile Jacqueline, whose soulless complexity is subtly rendered by Dorian DeMichele's elegant craftsmanship, isn't even introduced until the second half. The delayed insertion of her influence undermines the triangular Zach-Karly-Jacqeline dynamic that is the primary source of the film's dramatic tension. The linchpin of Karly's entire struggle rests in her relationship to Jacqueline's utterance "There is no issue." When she says those words Jacqueline shoulders the thematic weight of the film and its central issue with her post-modern perky delivery. The phrase is a ubiquitous mantra of modern society. It reverberates on every level of human interaction including individuals in denial, communities' attitude toward the marginalized, and politician's defense of failed policies. Yet despite the timeliness of Jacqueline's comment, which she delivers with megaton force at the moment of Karly's final surrender, Karly barely responds. Consequently the impact of the film's final resolution is diluted.

The tensions between the first third and second half of the film may reflect Kathleen's own Faustian struggle. Perhaps she was uncertain whether to make a whistle-blowing documentary or a money-making feature film. The way that she handles individual components of the film demonstrates that she understands the differences between the two. However the irony of the final product is that the first third has the look and feel of a docudrama. The latter two thirds come off as a relatively compelling thriller. Either way the film introduces us to two women faced by momentous decisions, the character, Karly, and the filmmaker, Kathleen. The difference between Karly-the-character and Kathleen-the-filmmaker is that by the end of the film Karly has made up her mind.

I splurged on the special they had with the Grey's Anatomy dvd and I am so happy I did. Izzie has proven herself yet again by not only being beautiful and a great actress, but also caring about issues that matter. Being the executive producer on this indie film shows she really follows her heart. I knew she supported organ donation. And with Side Effects she takes on the corruption of the pharmaceutical industry in a fun, light-hearted way! Go girl!

It is entertaining, enlightening and just a scream. It was the perfect choice for girls' night in. We were laughing our (beep) off!

When the film reveals its low budget at the end, it makes you forgive any of its flaws and wish that more studio films had this much heart. It is definitely a feel good movie that puts a smile on your face.