With “Love and Other Drugs,” director Edward Zwick (“Glory,” “Legends of the Fall”) has produced a bittersweet, clear-eyed gem about the highs and lows of love.

Jake Gyllenhaal is Jamie, a directionless young man who has managed to get by in life on his good looks and charm (it hasn’t hurt him in the bedroom, either). Jamie is very good at selling himself (especially to women), and when he gets a job as a pharmaceutical rep, he combines his charisma with a new product right up his alley: Viagra. Jamie meets Maggie (Anne Hathaway), a free-spirited, sexually forward artist who, like himself, is interested only in meaningless sex. Maggie has early-onset Parkinson’s disease and remains emotionally distant. But as time goes on, the couples’ carnality evolves into something far more intimate.

The reason “Love and Other Drugs” works so well is that Gyllenhaal and Hathaway have chemistry to spare. They spend much of the film unashamedly undressed, in the throes of passion.

Tonally, “Love and Other Drugs” resembles “Jerry Maguire,” a nearly perfect film. “Love and Other Drugs” is not a perfect film, but it is easily one of the most enjoyable films of the year.

“Love and Other Drugs”

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Josh Gad, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, Judy Greer

Directed by: Edward Zwick

Rated: R (for strong sexual content, nudity, pervasive language and some drug material)

Running time: 1 hour, 53 minutes

Grade: B+

Photo by TMS