December 12, 2010 -- This well-acted romantic comedy has a very serious side to it involving a very terrible, debilitating disease. It is an odd combination of drama and comedy that doesn't work perfectly, but it is moving and it is also funny in places. This is a story about the three hardest words there are to say, “I love you,” especially when that love can lead you down a road that can lead to utter despair and loneliness.

Jake Gyllenhaal (“Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”) stars as Jamie Randall, a man with a real gift for salesmanship. He is also a real lady's man. It is hard not to like him, even though he never stays with one girl long. He is carefree and easy to get along with. Then one day he meets Maggie Murdock (played by Anne Hathaway of “Rachel Getting Married”), a beautiful young woman with early onset Parkinson's Disease. This is an incurable, degenerative disease than can lead to major disabilities and a shorter than normal lifespan. Despite Jamie's worst intentions, he falls in love with Maggie. Maggie likes having sex (there is a lot of nudity and sex in this movie) with Jamie, but doesn't want him to fall in love with her because she doesn't want to be a burden for him. She wants to be independent.

Jamie finally has to tell Maggie that he is in love with her, and she rejects him because of that. When he talks to the husband of a woman with Parkinson's disease about what it is like to love a person with this disease, he hears the worst kind of story. The disease, in its final stages, the man says, has robbed his wife of nearly everything she once was. He says, “I love my wife,” but he would not choose to go through this hell again. Jamie has a lot of growing up to do before he can face that kind of future. At first, he is in denial. He tries to find a cure. There is none.

Jamie must finally decide what he is going to do with his life. He will have to become a much better man than he is now. Can he do this? Maggie will have to swallow some of her pride and allow Jamie to help her if they are to stay together. Can she do this? Each of them must face these questions if they are to stay together and there are no easy answers. One of the main comic elements in the film has to do with Maggie and Jamie's free-wheeling style of life. Maggie is much more up front about her sexuality than Jamie is used to. The other key comic element is Jamie's younger brother, Josh (played by Josh Gad), a dot com millionaire whose marriage is on the rocks. Josh comes to stay with Jamie and he is constantly causing trouble and getting in the way. There are a lot of Viagra jokes in the movie, as this takes place about the time that Viagra came on the market and Jamie is a sales representative for Viagra.

The acting is excellent by both Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, also by veteran actor Oliver Platt (“Letters to Juliet”) who plays Jamie's boss, Bruce Winston. I wouldn't be surprised if Gyllenhaal and Hathaway are nominated for Academy Awards for their performances in this film. Hathaway was nominated last year for “Rachel Getting Married,” while Gyllenhaal was nominated for “Brokeback Mountain.” Both of them have just been nominated for Golden Globe awards for their performances in this film. This film rates a B.

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