Imdbidia Dopamine is an original independent post-modern love story that reflects on traditional/modern views on love in the contemporary world, and on the difficulties of human connection in a world that is every day more virtual.The main characters are Rand -a computer animator working on a project of a virtual pet- and Sarah -a schoolteacher-, who are convincingly played by John Livingston and Sabrina Lloyd. They really have great chemistry on camera.Sarah believes in love, from heart to heart, and in a committed relationship. Rand, is very influenced by his father's teachings on human biology and chemistry, according to which most human emotions - love included- are just the result of biochemical reactions in our body. Love, in that regard, is directly connected to a high production of Dopamine in the brain. However, Sarah is rough and edgy, unpredictable, while Rand is a sweet sensitive guy.The movie is very engaging and believable. The acting is good and the main actors have chemistry. The characters are all well-drawn and grounded - believable. The dialogs are great, fresh and thought- provoking.The story is never straightforward or simplistic, and shows the difficulties surrounding men-women relationships from a new perspective.However, The pace of the movie is too slow. The music is forgettable. I don't even remember it! The colors, cinematography and texture of the film used for the movie are not visually engaging or attractive, which is a pity as the movie was shot in the colorful bright San Francisco. The end is predictable.The movie won won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.

oystergirl Not your typical romantic comedy. It's thought provoking and full of wit instead of the same old, same old. Perfect for anyone looking for something different... a romnatic comedy that is well directed, well filmed, well written, and, most of all, well acted. Dopamine is a film worth watching. The cast is real. The story is interesting. The characters deserve your attention and you'll remember them all. They all have different levels of depth and that's something missing from most films. It's not just a cute little romantic comedy that'll make you sigh and giggle. It's full of truth and will make you think and rethink chemistry and the chemicals that create attraction.

hprevan2 It's a wonderful movie. The premise is clever. All of the acting is well done. The character, Sarah (Sabrina Lloyd) really caries this movie, as Rand (John Livingston) is a likable underdog type that you instantly root for, but Sarah, while likable, has a darker side and if the audience doesn't care about her then the movie falls apart. A less charismatic and talented actress could not have pulled this part off, but Sabrina Lloyd seems to handle it with a natural charm that makes it look easy. I have no doubt that she will have many opportunities thrown her way based upon her work here.This is a great movie, however a few minor details could have made it better. At just over 80 minutes, they really could have filled out the movie a little more. I can't help but feel that there is a lot of story left untold and some of the scenes feel a little disjointed. With it being an independent feature, I'm sure a lot of this has to do with budget and time (trying to get into Sundance.) I also would have enjoyed a few more light moments between characters.I think one of the reasons some people haven't taken to it is the mistaken idea that it is a romantic comedy. It really isn't. There are a few light moments (don't know if I would even call them comedic moments), but this is definitely a drama. The issues and material are serious, so anyone waiting for Sandra Bullock type goofiness, Meg Ryan over sentiment or Three's Company sexual innuendo miscommunication are going to be disappointed.

peterhoffman I would tend to agree with creamygreen on the predictability and stock archetypes used to fulfill the writers premise. But the more interesting thing about this film is the premise itself. Can love be boiled down to just science? Can the build up of dopamine make me want to cuddle? Science is always struggling against the nature of human beings with such things as religion and human emotion. Such intangibles make the separation between what you feel and what you can prove the cornerstone of any good debate. The premise for this movie was a good one, it's the execution in the writing and scene development that fell apart. I would love to see the writer do something different with this premise and see whether or not it will draw all of us in. After all aren't we all familiar with something we just "know" but can't prove?