Better Living Through Chemistry (2014) Synopsis

Jane Fonda Herself as a Pharmacy customer/Narrator. A straitlaced pharmacist's Douglas "Doug" Varney (Sam Rockwell) uneventful life spirals out of control when he starts an affair with a trophy wife customer who takes him on a joyride involving sex, drugs and possibly murder. Doug is married to Kara Varney (Michelle Monaghan). Doug worked as a pharmacist at Kara's father's Walter Bishop (Ken Howard) pharmacy for many years. He finally retired & sold the business to Doug but refused to rename the shop which was called Bishop's pharmacy. This angers Doug, but he was too polite to say anything about it to Kara or Walter. Doug's family including his son don't respect him at all. Kara is a professional cyclist & uses her supremacy at the sport to continuously insult Doug in front of her friends.As a good pharmacist Doug knew a little bit about all the people in the small town he served. But he never judged & was very diligent about giving the right medication. He even puts up with his unreliable employee Noah (Ben Schwartz), who totally takes advantage of Doug's good nature. Elizabeth Roberts (Olivia Wilde) is the incredibly sexy wife of Jack Roberts (Ray Liotta). Elizabeth is a drug junkie. when Doug visits her house for a delivery, she doesn't have cash to pay for it, & tries to seduce Doug when he is nice about it. Elizabeth & Doug meet by chance & Doug admits that he wanted to go to medical school, but Kara got pregnant & Doug gave up his dream to work at Walter's pharmacy. Doug & Elizabeth end up having sex with each other.Doug & Kara find from the school principal that their son Ethan has been found leaving excrement all over the school premises. Kara is indignant at the accusation. Doug & Elizabeth start seeing other regularly. Elizabeth teaches Doug about style & about how to have sex. In turn, Doug starts experimenting with medication to start feeling better. Doug then started mixing drugs to get even "higher" feelings & to start stimulating artificial moods. Doug had found better living through chemistry. Elizabeth & Doug are sick of being taken for granted & want to leave to start a new life. Doug jokingly suggests that Elizabeth could mess with Jack's pills to kill him. Elizabeth gets all serious.Not long after a DEA agent Andrew Carp (Norbert Leo) comes by to check Doug's inventory to see if his inventory meets his prescription records. Doug acts all cool & gets out of it. At home, Ethan gets suspended at school. Doug takes charge & bonds with Ethan & tries to put his life back together. Doug & Ethan vandalize their own shop & destroy the "Bishop's" sign in front of it. Then Doug concocts his own drug recipe to give himself super strength so that he can defeat his wife at the annual cycle race & put her back in her place. DOug wins & has passionate sex with his wife in which she has multiple orgasms.Agent Carp visits again & tells Doug that the records don't match & wants to cross check them for the last 12 months. Doug stalls for time. He panics & calls Elizabeth & wants to put the "kill Jack by overdose" plan in action so that he can escape the town as soon as possible. In planning with Kara, he switches Jack's regular heart medicine to a higher dose, which will be fatal to him. He gets Noah to deliver the prescription.He meets Jack at a bar that night & figures that he is a nice guy. The next morning he realizes that he has made a huge mistake & rushes to Jack's house to find him sitting in his chair & not moving. Doug panics & drives like mad & is arrested by the police & taken to his pharmacy where he is met by Agent Carp. Doug is about to break down when Carp explains that Noah was found dead in the pharmacy OD'ed on drugs & that solves the inconsistency in the inventory. Doug is off the hook. The next thing he sees is Jack walk into his pharmacy looking for aspirin. Turns out Noah never delivered the prescriptions & Jack was simply passed out on his chair.Elizabeth had left the town the day before to avoid suspicion & is taken aback when Doug tells her that Jack is alive. She still wants to go with Doug, but Doug says he cant leave because of Ethan. Elizabeth & Doug part on good terms and Doug gets a divorce.

Jane Fonda Herself as a Pharmacy customer/Narrator. A straitlaced pharmacist's Douglas "Doug" Varney (Sam Rockwell) uneventful life spirals out of control when he starts an affair with a trophy wife customer who takes him on a joyride involving sex, drugs and possibly murder. Doug is married to Kara Varney (Michelle Monaghan). Doug worked as a pharmacist at Kara's father's Walter Bishop (Ken Howard) pharmacy for many years. He finally retired & sold the business to Doug but refused to rename the shop which was called Bishop's pharmacy. This angers Doug, but he was too polite to say anything about it to Kara or Walter. Doug's family including his son don't respect him at all. Kara is a professional cyclist & uses her supremacy at the sport to continuously insult Doug in front of her friends.As a good pharmacist Doug knew a little bit about all the people in the small town he served. But he never judged & was very diligent about giving the right medication. He even puts up with his unreliable employee Noah (Ben Schwartz), who totally takes advantage of Doug's good nature. Elizabeth Roberts (Olivia Wilde) is the incredibly sexy wife of Jack Roberts (Ray Liotta). Elizabeth is a drug junkie. when Doug visits her house for a delivery, she doesn't have cash to pay for it, & tries to seduce Doug when he is nice about it. Elizabeth & Doug meet by chance & Doug admits that he wanted to go to medical school, but Kara got pregnant & Doug gave up his dream to work at Walter's pharmacy. Doug & Elizabeth end up having sex with each other.Doug & Kara find from the school principal that their son Ethan has been found leaving excrement all over the school premises. Kara is indignant at the accusation. Doug & Elizabeth start seeing other regularly. Elizabeth teaches Doug about style & about how to have sex. In turn, Doug starts experimenting with medication to start feeling better. Doug then started mixing drugs to get even "higher" feelings & to start stimulating artificial moods. Doug had found better living through chemistry. Elizabeth & Doug are sick of being taken for granted & want to leave to start a new life. Doug jokingly suggests that Elizabeth could mess with Jack's pills to kill him. Elizabeth gets all serious.Not long after a DEA agent Andrew Carp (Norbert Leo) comes by to check Doug's inventory to see if his inventory meets his prescription records. Doug acts all cool & gets out of it. At home, Ethan gets suspended at school. Doug takes charge & bonds with Ethan & tries to put his life back together. Doug & Ethan vandalize their own shop & destroy the "Bishop's" sign in front of it. Then Doug concocts his own drug recipe to give himself super strength so that he can defeat his wife at the annual cycle race & put her back in her place. DOug wins & has passionate sex with his wife in which she has multiple orgasms.Agent Carp visits again & tells Doug that the records don't match & wants to cross check them for the last 12 months. Doug stalls for time. He panics & calls Elizabeth & wants to put the "kill Jack by overdose" plan in action so that he can escape the town as soon as possible. In planning with Kara, he switches Jack's regular heart medicine to a higher dose, which will be fatal to him. He gets Noah to deliver the prescription.He meets Jack at a bar that night & figures that he is a nice guy. The next morning he realizes that he has made a huge mistake & rushes to Jack's house to find him sitting in his chair & not moving. Doug panics & drives like mad & is arrested by the police & taken to his pharmacy where he is met by Agent Carp. Doug is about to break down when Carp explains that Noah was found dead in the pharmacy OD'ed on drugs & that solves the inconsistency in the inventory. Doug is off the hook. The next thing he sees is Jack walk into his pharmacy looking for aspirin. Turns out Noah never delivered the prescriptions & Jack was simply passed out on his chair.Elizabeth had left the town the day before to avoid suspicion & is taken aback when Doug tells her that Jack is alive. She still wants to go with Doug, but Doug says he cant leave because of Ethan. Elizabeth & Doug part on good terms and Doug gets a divorce.

Published Time: 2019-05-23 14:58:55