• Director: Edward Zwick
• Writer: Marshall Herskovitz & Charles Randolph
• Release Date: 2010 (USA)
• MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, pervasive language, and some drug material
• Parents Guide: View content advisory for parents
• Genre: Drama
• Runtime: 112 min
• Box Office #s: Here
A salesman competes in the cutthroat world of pharmaceuticals to hawk a male performance enhancement drug. Based on Jamie Reidy’s memoir “Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman.”
From the Gallery
Cast Highlights
• Anne Hathaway … Maggie Murdock
• Judy Greer … Cindy
• Oliver Platt … Bruce Jackson
• Hank Azaria … Dr. Stan Knight
• Josh Gad … Josh Randall
• Jill Clayburgh … Nancy Randall
Trivia
- The film is based on a book (‘Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman’) by a former Pfizer rep. He says the book is a “jumping off point.” In the book there is no love interest. The author, Jamie Reidy, says he left all of that out because he thought his mother would read the book.
- In designing the sex scenes, Director Edward Zwick had the principals watch romantic comedies and sexually charged films (everything from “Pillow Talk” to “9 Songs” to “Last Tango In Paris”) and talk about what turned them on. Then some of those shots and ideas were incorporated into the making of.
- In setting up the sex scenes the actors were encouraged to improvise, but with their clothes on. Edward Zwick says that it’s “colder” on a set because there are people all around, the camera, and distractions. So the improvisation was useful in setting the scene and shots for the actual shoot.
- Lawyers for both principals prepared documents about how much the film would show. In the end, though, Edward Zwick simply pledged that there would be nothing in the film they weren’t comfortable with.
- At one point Director Edward Zwick jumped into bed with Anne and Jake for a group shot.
Quotes
Maggie Murdock: What’s your game?
Jamie Randall: My game?
Maggie Murdock: Oh I’m sorry. Right. This is the part where we talk about where we come from and what we majored in in college.
Jamie Randall: You have beautiful eyes.
Maggie Murdock: That’s it? That’s the best you got?
Jamie Randall: I’m serious. They’re beautiful.
Maggie Murdock: Let’s go.
Jamie Randall: Excuse me?
Maggie Murdock: You want to close right? You want to get laid?
Jamie Randall: Now?
Maggie Murdock: Oh right, right, right. I’m supposed to act like I don’t know if it’s right. So then you tell me that there is no right or wrong. It’s just the moment. And then I tell you that I can’t while actually signalling to you that I can, which you don’t need because you’re not really listening. Because this isn’t about connection for you. This isn’t even about sex for you. This is about finding an hour or two of relief from the pain of being you. And that’s fine with me, see, because all I want is the exact same thing.
