Better Living Through Chemistry

It’s always the ones you never expect. Doug Varney (Sam Rockwell, The Way Way Back, Seven Psychopaths) is a small town pharmacist who seems to be a bit of a doormat. There’s no freedom in sight until, one night, he meets unhappy trophy wife Elizabeth (Olivia Wilde, Deadfall, Tron: Legacy, Her) who inspires him to cut loose, live free, and dip into his own pharmaceutical supply for a little fun.

It’s another stab at the standard story of learning how to grow up and solve problems, but instead of an anxious adolescence it’s an anxious mid-life crisis.

There’s not much to say for innovation plot-wise, and the execution of the movie doesn’t go above and beyond either. “Better Living Through Chemistry” largely stays light and quirky, though not to a degree to truly set itself apart from the pack. The movie is at its best when the actors are able to shine through the average dialogue.

Varney’s character is so vanilla it’s tough to watch an actor as fun as Rockwell stay caged up inside his shy and nerdy mannerisms. And it’s a move made all the more tough by the sheer pile of sad sack they bury him under. Kara (Michelle Monaghan), his domineering wife, doesn’t see eye-to-eye on how to raise their troubled son, and his overbearing father-in-law (Ken Howard) refuses to let him fully take the reins in the family pharmacy.

It’s no coincidence that the movie picks up once Rockwell gets a little wild as Varney channels his inner Walter White. It’s a breath of fresh air, and the chemistry between Wilde and Rockwell becomes a lot more electric.

The actors actually manage to do a pretty good job working with characters who are mostly two-dimensional. Wilde and Rockwell get the most screen time and do what they can to ground their characters in reality for the second half.

“Better Living Through Chemistry” suffers from switching gears to establish a lasting atmosphere for the narrative. Scenes seem to be strung together only in the sense that they needed to happen. It doesn’t help that the filmmakers’ attempt to tie the whole movie together with a self-aware narration by Jane Fonda becomes a bit more cloying than cutesy by the end.

The film does a reasonable enough job balancing what darker and more real moments it has with the overall chipper, wish-fulfillment side of its romantic comedy plot. By the end of the movie — while it may feel a bit stilted — it is clear that Varney has upgraded his blah exterior for a backbone and is a legitimately stronger character. And while it’s cool to watch a character actually achieve an honestly better living, it seems like there should’ve been a bit more tweaking to the formula.

Verdict: It’s breaking not great.