Yes, I'm still doing Film Fest reviews. Hey, it's only been a month...

Side Effects was a lot of fun, and not at all what I was expecting. I had gotten the idea that it was a soul-searching drama. Well, there was soul-searching and there was some drama, but mostly it was pretty funny.

I must admit, I did get a kick out of seeing something that had been filmed in and around Madison--especially when they were at a conference in some supposedly tropical location, but where actually walking around by the Terrace.

The story had a great narrative arc. Karly Hert (Katherine Heigl) starts the movie frustrated with her job, but unable to see a way out. She's pretty immediately likable, and we find ourselves caring about what happens to her. When she meets Zach (Lucian McAfee) and starts forming her plan to leave her job, we get to feel that excitement. We then watch as she actually starts to get good at her job, and be pulled in my the lure of success. I think that if she had started the movie in love with Big Pharma, her moment of conversion wouldn't have been as interesting.

I actually wouldn't mind seeing it again.