Taglines: Imagine if sex appeal came in a bottle.
Love Potion No. 9 movie storyline. Paul Matthews (Tate Donovan) is a lonely biochemist with a crush on his unavailable co-worker, biologist Diane Farrow (Sandra Bullock). His friends take him to a gypsy on 34th and Vine named Madame Ruth (Anne Bancroft). After reading his palm and seeing absolutely no romance in his life, Ruth gives him a small amount of Love Potion No. 8 on a piece of paper. As a scientist, Paul has doubts and ends up throwing it in the trash when he gets home. Around this time, Paul’s friends buy him the services of Marisa, but all they do is talk.
His cat gets into the trash and eats some of the potion; then it meows and attracts all the other cats in the neighborhood. When Paul sees the results, he takes it to Diane, and they find out the “scientific” properties of it. After analyzing it, they decide to use themselves as human test subjects.
Diane ends up attracting an Italian car mogul and the prince of England, ending up getting a makeover in the process, while Paul has a string of hookups with women in bars, supermarkets, cars, sorority houses (notably Alpha Tau Omega at Georgia Institute of Technology), and female dormitories (notably Balch Hall at Cornell University).
Paul and Diane realize their romantic attraction to each other and become involved. Eventually, Paul plans a proposal to Diane; however, when he comes by her house to do so, she’s not there. Later, she tells him she has fallen for Gary. (We have seen Gary before, taking advantage of her loneliness to have sex with her.) Paul is devastated and decides he really wants to get her back. Marisa comes to his house to steal his stereo, and after trying the potion in his bathroom, she makes Paul gladly give her all his valuables, including the potion.
Love Potion No. 9 is a 1992 film starring Tate Donovan, Sandra Bullock, Mary Mara, Dale Midkiff, Hillary B. Smith, Anne Bancroft, Dylan Baker, Blake Clark, Rebecca Staab, Adrian Paul and Jordan Baker. Production Design by Linda Pearl, cinematography by William Wages, film Editing by Suzanne Pettit, costume Design by Timothy D’Arcy, set Decoration by Sally Nicholaou Hamilton, art Direction by Thomas Minton, music by Jed Leiber.
Film Review for Love Potion No. 9
Dale Launer, the man who wrote the hilarious “Ruthless People,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” and “My Cousin Vinny,” makes his debut as what Hollywood calls a “hyphenate” (writer and director) with “Love Potion No. 9,” the kind of comedy you can outrun at a walk. Given the premise, which is said to be inspired by the song by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, virtually everything that happens can be predicted from the opening frame.
The situation is this: Paul (Tate Donovan), a shy biochemist, and Diane (Sandra Bullock), an animal psychologist who is also shy, find themselves in possession of a love potion that works on chimpanzees. They agree to test it out on themselves, though not together. Would you believe that Paul becomes an exhausted Lothario? Would you believe that Prince Geoffrey of England (Dylan Baker), who looks like a somewhat taller, handsomer Prince Charles, proposes to Diane? Would you believe that true love is elsewhere, but not too far away?
Mr. Launer’s writing credits indicate that he’s a very funny man, but “Love Potion No. 9” suggests that he needs a collaborator to tell him when the jokes don’t work. He also needs a funnier story in which to plant them. “Love Potion No. 9,” which refers not to the original potion but to its antidote, has a decent young cast, some mild smiles and a lot of gags that lie on the floor like pennies not worth picking up.
The only real laugh is provided by Anne Bancroft as the Gypsy palm reader who deals in love potions. That laugh comes when, looking into Paul’s hand, she frowns, spits into it and rubs it with a cloth as if to clean her glasses. It’s not really a joke, more like a bit of business, but in “Love Potion No. 9,” it’s the equivalent to the stateroom scene in “A Night at the Opera.”
Love Potion No. 9 (1992)
Directed by: Dale Launer
Starring: Tate Donovan, Sandra Bullock, Mary Mara, Dale Midkiff, Hillary B. Smith, Anne Bancroft, Dylan Baker, Blake Clark, Rebecca Staab, Adrian Paul, Jordan Baker
Screenplay by: Dale Launer
Production Design by: Linda Pearl
Cinematography by: William Wages
Film Editing by: Suzanne Pettit
Costume Design by: Timothy D’Arcy
Set Decoration by: Sally Nicholaou Hamilton
Art Direction by: Thomas Minton
Music by: Jed Leiber
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for elements of sensuality.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: November 13, 1992
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