A few years ago I found myself watching The Pill, a romantic comedy that was released in 2011 starring Noah Bean and Rachel Boston. The film followed Fred (Bean) and Mindy (Boston) as they engage in unprotected sex on the night of their meeting and the following morning Fred has to convince Mindy to take the morning after pill. As the morning after pill consists of two pills, the second to be taken 12 hours after the first, Fred has to spend the day with Mindy to ensure she takes the second pill. I bet you all think you know what will happen. In my initial viewing of it I thought it was a fairly decent film, I didn't hate it but I also didn't believe that I would make an effort to watch it again. That was until Z Nation planted a sour taste in my mouth and I found The Pill on Netflix and decided that a second viewing of that might make me feel better. It did, but not because I was watching idealistic characters play out a love story that we'd all dream of.
The characters of Fred and Mindy are actually terrible, for starters Fred is in a relationship when he decides to spend the night with Mindy. So the lead male, the romantic hero, happens to be a lying cheat. In addition to deceiving his partner he manipulates Mindy into believing that he has feelings for her so he can keep her close and make her take the second pill. Sure, the romantic male leads in more mainstream films may seem flawed because of they're reluctance to settle down, or their lack of faith in love but we rarely witness them doing something as morally wrong as Fred does here. Sometimes something bad has happened to them regarding a love interest but apart from that they're pretty perfect, they just haven't found the right woman.
Mindy is no innocent either, firstly she mounted him while he was sleeping which led to the unprotected sex. He may have consented earlier and seemed willing to continue after she had start but to some this could be construed as rape. Yes, men can get raped too. She, like Fred, seems to be a compulsive liar and also spends a large part of the day manipulating him. She is the complete opposite of females we see in the average Rom-Com, as the genre caters to a mainly female audience they like to make the female character aspirational, make them beautiful yet unlucky in love for reasons unknown. Or they make them so bland that anyone can project aspects of themselves onto the character with ease and make them instantly relatable. I don't aspire to be like Mindy, in fact I pray that I never become like Mindy, so why do I enjoy their characters?
The characters aren't the ideal, I wouldn't want to be them so why would I follow them? Why would I root for the development of their relationship? On paper they seem like the most unlikable characters to have ever graced the screen but their issues and flaws make me empathise with them. They are me. Not literally, I've never a had a morning after pill situation, cheated on a partner or become incredibly clingy. I may not have gone through the same situations as the twosome but I find them utterly more relatable than what we get in the Aniston/Heigl/Garner flicks. Another aspect I enjoyed of this film was the resolution of it, they don't realise that they are perfect for each other and accept them as they are. The two do have a genuine attraction and it was enjoyable watching the day play out, however their interactions during the day exposes the imperfections in their self-obsessed existences making them realise that they both have to work on their issues before attempting to find companionship.
I'm not saying that this is an excellent and ground breaking film, there have been romantic comedy films that are more acclaimed and true to life. This film just sticks out at me because I shouldn't like the characters but I just can't help myself. Noah Bean and Rachel Boston were both excellent in their respective roles and a enchanting to watch, they are a big part of what makes this film work. The script is not perfect, it does feel rushed and contrived at times but I applaud the screenwriters for attempting to give the characters some depth in such a short space of time. The Pill isn't a must see film and you won't gain or lose anything whether you watch it or not, but if you are aimlessly cruising through Netflix and have 90 minutes to spare then maybe give it a shot.
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