Product Details

• Actors: Katherine Heigl
• Directors: Lucian McAfee
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full length, Letterboxed, Subtitled, Surround Sound, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Hummingbird Pictures
• DVD Release Date: May 16, 2006
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000EOTSA0
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #54,099 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Side Effects" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A well-intentioned film about a young pharmaceutical rep who is torn between earning a good living and living a good life, Side Effects tells the story of Karly Hert, portrayed by Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy, Roswell), who also executive produced the project. Karly works for a company whose motto is "To protect and prolong life." But what they really mean is prolong their own) lives by making as much money as possible. Based on writer-director Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau's previous career as a legal pill pusher, Side Effects is a comedy with an agenda. Its goal is to educate viewers about the dangers of an uneducated sales force telling doctors which drugs to prescribe--regardless of the side effects. While Slattery-Moschkau is heavy handed in her delineation of who is good (the patients) and evil (the drug reps), her semi-autobiographical Karly is relatable. When we meet her, Karly has no patience with her pod-like boss. When her employer rhetorically asks, "How do you think I ended up in management?" Karly zings back, "There are rumors." But as she herself moves up in the company and earns expensive perks, Karly is seduced. Heigl gives an earnest, likable performance, especially during scenes with Lucian McAfee, who plays her boyfriend Zach. While her Norma Rae moment at the end of the film doesn't ring quite true, it gives the movie a fitting ending that ties together all the loose ends. --Jae-Ha Kim

Product Description

Karly Hert (Katherine Heigl) has spent the last ten years selling drugs... legally, that is. She’s works for one of corporate America’s darlings, the pharmaceutical industry. Karly has it all – a big salary, a company car, a closet full of hot business suits and a growing pit in her stomach... Everything changes when she meets sexy Zach Danner (Lucian McAfee), a down-to-earth guy. Sparks fly! As their relationship heats up, he encourages Karly to walk her talk and leave her empty job. Karly devises a plan to get out.

But somehow leaving is never quite as easy as it seems... SIDE EFFECTS is based on the writer/director's decade working for the pharmaceutical industry and stars Grey’s Anatomy’s hottest intern Katherine Heigl.

It’s the perfect prescription for a new comedy!

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A satirical but not quite scathing indictment of the pharmaceutical industry, August 14, 2006

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

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.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Big Pharma Exposed, August 11, 2006

By	Marie Logan (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

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!!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars So bad, it's good, June 26, 2006

By	Matt Conner "med student" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.