Douglas leads a simple and uneventful existence as a pharmacist in a small town.
A strait-laced pharmacist's 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.—Occupant Films
Despite liking and being good in his profession as a pharmacist, Doug Varney has an unsatisfying life. He has long worked at Bishop's, the only pharmacy in the small town of Woodbury. The pharmacy is owned by his controlling father-in-law Walter Bishop. Even when Doug "inherits" the pharmacy, Walter makes it clear that he is still the figurehead by not letting Doug change the name to Varney's. With Walter still as that figurehead, the staff at the pharmacy run roughshod over Doug. Doug's wife Kara is equally as controlling. She is an ultra-competitive competitive road cyclist, she having won not only the women's division but overall the Tour de Woodbury six years running. She takes control of the household, including all the decisions concerning the raising of their now twelve year old son, Ethan. Her permissiveness in those decisions has resulted in Ethan acting out, which she in turn attributes to Doug not manning-up in being a suitable role model for Ethan. Things in Doug's life have the potential to change when he meets beautiful Elizabeth Roberts, new to Woodbury and to Bishop's. Elizabeth is in an equally unsatisfying marriage to her older husband, Jack Roberts. She believes he sees her only as a trophy wife, who he will probably dump when she gets to be too old. Despite not being a match on the surface, Doug and Elizabeth bond over their mutually unhappy lives. They begin an affair, with Elizabeth showing him how to make his life more fulfilling, including using his access to and knowledge of drugs for their own personal benefit. With Doug becoming a new man, he has to decide if he will take it to the next logical step by making him and Elizabeth a permanent thing, which if they have any chance for a comfortable life means killing Jack so that they can live off of his money. In addition to other things going on because of these changes, two items that may factor into Doug's decision are the fact that DEA agent Andrew Carp is doing a routine inspection of the pharmacy due to the fact that it has changed hands, and when Doug eventually meets Jack in the flesh...—Huggo
Jane Fonda is a Pharmacy Customer and the Narrator of the story.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. 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. Kara gives their son Ethan free rein, so he blacks out his windows and eats crushed cookies with milk, instead of cereal.
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. Although frustrated, he takes pride in his work and is very discreet. He even puts up with his unreliable employee Noah (Ben Schwartz). When Doug's delivery person Noah does not finish his deliveries, Doug does them. Noah 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. 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.
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.Doug admits to Elizabeth 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. 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.
Doug & Elizabeth start seeing other regularly Initially, Doug and Elizabeth are simply having an affair, and she teaches him about how to dress, do yoga and better enjoy 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.
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 traveled yet although her husband Jack has the means, Elizabeth abuses prescription drugs to better bear her boredom.Elizabeth & Doug are sick of being taken for granted & want to leave to start a new life. 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. Elizabeth gets all serious about this idea.
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. Elizabeth helps him to not overreact.At home, Ethan gets suspended at school. Doug takes charge & bonds with Ethan & tries to put his life back together. As he asks about his hobbies, Ethan brings out a box with nun-chucks, a slingshot etc. 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 Elizabeth, he switches Jack's regular heart medicine to a higher dose, which will be fatal to him. He gets Noah to deliver the prescription.
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.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. In a panic, he hurries back to Career Day at Ethan's school.
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 can't leave because of Ethan.Elizabeth & Doug part on good terms and Doug gets a divorce.
