Better Living Through Chemistry (film)

Better Living Through Chemistry is a 2014 American comedy-drama film directed and written by David Posamentier and Geoff Moore. The film stars Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde, Michelle Monaghan, Ben Schwartz, Ken Howard, Ray Liotta, and Jane Fonda. The film was released on March 14, 2014.

Plot
Doug Varney, is unhappily married to Kara. She gives their son Ethan free rein, so he blacks out his windows and eats crushed cookies with milk, instead of cereal.

Kara is obsessed with staying fit and cycling, and disinterested in intimacy. She exercises constantly, teaches spin classes and wins the town's cycle race every year.

Straitlaced Doug bullies his retired father-in-law, whose small-town pharmacy he took over, but would not let him name it Varney's. Although frustrated, he takes pride in his work and is very discreet.

When Doug's delivery person Noah does not finish his deliveries, Doug does them. Arriving at Elizabeth Roberts', he delivers several different bottles. She is a bored trophy wife, prescription drug abuser and one of Doug's best clients. Elizabeth admits she does not have the cash on her, Doug says she can pay him once she does. Calling him both sweet and honest, she kisses him.

Hurrying out, Doug comes home to an unhappy Kara. Ethan's principal has called them in for an urgent conference.

On the weekend, spinning instructor Kara has Doug and a group go cycling. He lags behind, arriving 45 minutes later, so he is left with the bill and alone. Elizabeth invites him to have lunch. She easily seduces the unhappy Doug and they begin an affair.

The Varneys are told that Ethan vandalized a locker with his excrement. As there were previous instances, without the perpetrator being found, the school concludes he's responsible for them. The school psychologist suggests Ethan see him twice a week, so a disgruntled Kara leaves.

Over dinner with Kara's dad and his trophy wife, he suggests the Varneys send Ethan to them a few nights a week. He suggests that Doug is not a strong enough male role model.

The next evening, Elizabeth arrives to the pharmacy at closing. She tells Doug she married for money as she has limited education. Frustrated at not having travelled yet although her husband Jack has the means, Elizabeth abuses prescription drugs to better bear her boredom.

Initially, Doug and Elizabeth are simply having an affair and she teaches him about how to dress, do yoga and better enjoy sex. But she then convinces him to 'transform' by "better living through chemistry". One day, as Elizabeth says she wishes they could run away together, Doug jokingly says he could doctor Jack's heart medication to get around the prenup.

The next day, DEA Agent Carp comes into the pharmacy to do an overdue stock check, which should have happened when he took it over. Doug tries to stall him, but he insists. Elizabeth helps him to not overreact.

That night, as Ethan got suspended from school, Doug sits to chat with him. As he asks about his hobbies, Ethan brings out a box with nunchucks, a slingshot etc. Then they bond over minor vandalism, mostly taking out lights and smashing up the pharmacy.

Deciding to win this year's cycling competition, Doug starts off in the front, holds back for the first half, then pops a specially created pill, so beats out even Kara. At home later, they have sex and she is impressed. Doug and Elizabeth decide to definitively overdose Jack by tweaking his heart medication dosages.

Hungover at the pharmacy the next day, Doug faces Agent Carp again. Although he is noticed some discrepancies, he manages to put him off a few more days. That evening Doug finally meets Jack, who pays for his drinks before leaving. He then writes a farewell letter to Kara and falls asleep on the sofa.

Waking in a panic, dreaming he accidentally drown in the tub, Doug races to save Jack, only to find him unconscious in his living room. In a panic, he hurries back to Career Day at Ethan's school. A cop there for his child, called to take Doug to the pharmacy. Believing he is going to jail, they instead find Noah dead on the floor. Agent Carp determines the delivery boy must have been stealing the medications as he overdoses on Jack's.

Doug realizes that he cannot abandon his son Ethan, who needs him, so straightens up. He leaves Kara, Elizabeth calls and he breaks to her the news about Jack and that he is staying. She leaves Jack anyway, and heads overseas.

Cast

 * Sam Rockwell as Doug Varney
 * Olivia Wilde as Elizabeth Roberts
 * Michelle Monaghan as Kara Varney
 * Ray Liotta as Jack Roberts
 * Norbert Leo Butz as Agent Andrew Carp
 * Ben Schwartz as Noah
 * Ken Howard as Walter Bishop
 * Jane Fonda as herself, a customer at Doug's pharmacy and the film's narrator

Production
On February 25, 2010, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Posamentier and Moore would collaborate on their directorial debut, with their own screenplay of Better Living Through Chemistry, for Occupant Films. On January 7, 2014, Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired all the United States distribution rights to the film for a spring 2014 release.

Casting
In April 2010, Paul Rudd was expected to join the cast as a lead actor to play Douglas Varney. On September 15, 2010, Jennifer Garner and Jeremy Renner joined the cast to play the lead roles in the film, with Renner to play Douglas Varney and Garner to play Elizabeth Roberts. On February 11, 2011, Judi Dench and Michelle Monaghan joined the cast of the film.

Then, on July 15, 2011, Sam Rockwell continued negotiations with Occupant Films to replace Renner, who left the project due to a hectic filming schedule. In August 2011, Garner was pregnant and expecting her third child with Ben Affleck, resulting in the actress' departure from the project. Olivia Wilde replaced Garner and was cast opposite the confirmed Rockwell. Ray Liotta also joined the cast on March 27, 2012 to play the husband of Elizabeth Roberts. On May 16, 2012, Jane Fonda joined the cast of the film as Narrator, as well as a cameo as a customer of a pharmacy run by Douglas Varney.

Filming
The filming of Better Living Through Chemistry began in May 2012 in Annapolis, Maryland. The duration of filming was five weeks and it occurred in different locations, including Baltimore, Anne Arundel County and Eastern Shore of Maryland. On May 10, 2012, the filming crew was shooting footage at Maryland State House.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 22% based on reviews from 26 critics.