Love Happens

It is not often that 'popular romance comedies' have the courage to tackle issues like death and grieving and make the story work, but such is the case with LOVE HAPPENS, a good little film written (with Mike Thompson) and directed by Brandon Camp. And it helps to have a solid cast of popular and well-schooled actors to pull off a subject that might make a few people uneasy.

Dr. Burke (Aaron Eckhart) is a seminar man who runs a business with his colleague Lane (Dan Fogler) based on helping people cope with grief - a group called 'A-Okay'. Burke is a popular guru, more so because of his reason for ministering to grievers: his beloved wife died three years ago in a car accident so Burke can speak about grief from experience. But it seems he is running away from something, too. Most of his followers don't notice, but one man Walter (John Carroll Lynch) is a particularly needy client and seems to pick up on something missing in Burke's seminars. Burke is currently in Seattle (his deceased wife's home) with his manager Lane (who is cooking up all manner of marketing tools and opportunities for the A-Okay team). Burke happens to literally bump into Eloise (Jennifer Aniston) who owns a flower business catering to the hotel in which the seminar is being staged. Eloise seems addicted to losers, and is freshly apart from her latest affair: she is comforted and supported by her sole employee, the somewhat dingy Marty (Judy Greer in a terrific cameo), who encourages Eloise to look for some stability in her next mate.

Burke is attracted to Eloise but is so out of practice in the dating game that he comes across as vulnerable - a trait that makes Eloise wary at first and attracted later. The odd things the two do in the mating dance finally result in the uncovering of the secret problems Burke carries. Refreshingly enough the film does not sell out with a happy-wappy ending, just a few thoughts that are particularly tender.

Eckhart and Aniston are a terrific team on the screen: both are lovable without resorting to being sappy and repetitive. Fogler and Greer are excellent as are such fine actors as Martin Sheen and Frances Conroy in memorable cameos. There is a lot to like in this film that makes it a step above the usual 'chick flicks' that were more popular in theaters. Perhaps audiences, sadly, have difficulty hearing about grieving, but death, as well as Love, happens! Grady Harp, February 10

"Love Happens" is the perfect name for this true turn of heart film.

Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart star as florist (Eloise Chandler) and self help guru (Dr Burke Ryan) as they slowly run through each others' emotional defensive shields. Dr Ryan, is a successful self help speaker who helps people deal with grief and loss, but cannot deal with his own issues. Eloise Chandler is a florist with several 'lost' relationships. Through the film both main characters dodge what is happening, and when they least expect it, love truly happens.

So much for the summary.

Unlike man films with truly predictable outcomes and even dialogue, Love Happens, falls just outside the envelope. It is not predictable, but more believable as far as scripting goes. Not sappy, but sappy enough for the lover of chick flicks, it strikes the right chord.

Both Aniston and Eckhart are believable in their roles. Their onscreen chemistry is remarkable and renders this film one of the best in current memory.

Whatever one may think of this movie, it did have some great performances by Jennifer Aniston and Arron E. I, however, liked it and thought it was very refreshing to see a movie that wasn't too sappy or overwrought. If not nothing else, it's a good movie to watch on a rainy afternoon.

I completely disagree with the negative reviews. This movie not only held my attention, it brought me to tears in a couple of places, and on balance I could find nothing worthy of negative note.

Jennifer Aniston is gifted in so many ways, including her acting, and I found Aaron Eckhart to be every bit the lead actor whom she was supporting. This movie has color, plot, emotional content, and even the token parrot (I smile, the parrot fit perfectly).

Sure there are a few more of less pro forma moments, but my bottom line is I would watch this again and be glad to do so.

Other moviews in thei vein I have reviewed and recommend:
The American President
Groundhog Day (Special Edition)
Dave
Spanglish
Maid in Manhattan
Blind Date
The Last Samurai (Full Screen Edition)
Bride and Prejudice (Musical)
De-Lovely: The Cole Porter Story (Musical)
Beyond the Sea : Widescreen Edition (Musical)

and of course everything else with Jennifer Aniston and everything with Sandra Bullock except Celebrity II.

It is not that I would say this is a bad love story film, just run-of-the-mill with Eckhart at the helm (and I enjoy his movies). Technically it was a mess though.

The story follows a self-help guru as he travels to Seattle (Vancouver subbed but the large volume of CGI shorted both of the cities). As he performs his schtick, we are made aware of his tragic back story, family issues and other assorted concerns. Aniston appears as the random love interest that wants to fix him all whilst dumping her current boyfriend.

The Blu clarity is solid throughout, to such a point the CGI was almost irritating. They green screened every single outdoor shot, sometimes using horrible pictures of Seattle blown up outside hotel windows (so poorly done that the same window over two scenes had two different views of the American skyline). The DTS was uneventful with the exception of a few crowd scenes in the meeting halls. The special features were bittersweet and include:

* Giving Romance a New Look, 3 minutes. Essentially an ad plug for the FX company - helps one realize how much CGI was in this story.
* Deleted scenes, 6 cuts totaling 13 minutes, in HD. They cut out the majority of one character's role (Aniston's loser boyfriend) - glad they went, nothing worth watching unless you are a fan of Joe Anderson (Amelia, Across the Universe).
* Commentary, these guys were so self-congratulating I called it quits at the 16 minute mark.
* BD Live, only feature is to save clips and share them with your buddies, nothing else.

The performances are fine, but the story just felt forced. When you see the Vancouver skylines it feels like a waste that they screened them out (beautiful mountains). The Seattle shots look miserable at times so there was definitely no location chemistry. To me, this BD is a renter as you will get a clear pic and sound, but lame supplements with a fair amount of plot misery make for a lower rating. English DTS, Descriptive Video Service, Spanish, French with English SDH, Spanish and French subs.

I saw Love Happens on a cross country flight. very funny, touching and moving...I really like Eckarts style and range. I sometimes find Aniston annoying and a bit of a camera hog...but she was very good in this and really won you over. 5 stars for me. djb10jan2010

The movie just did not seem to keep my attention and did seem to go anywhere's.

Burke is a motivational speaker who's book about dealing with grief is a best seller. His wife died in a car accident three years ago. He's in Seattle to lead a week-long workshop on healing and to negotiate a major multi-media deal. But something's amiss: he's a closet drinker, he won't ride elevators, his moods swing, he's estranged from his wife's father, and he's very much alone. In a hotel hallway, he bumps into a woman arranging flowers, tries to chat with her, and gets the brush-off. She's Eloise, a local florist who's just broken up with a boyfriend. He's persistent and they eventually go to dinner and it goes badly. There are some smiles during the movie, but it is actually a light drama dealing with bereavement and grief. I thought this movie was ok. I thought Aaron's character was interesting. However,Jennifer was just Jennifer.

so far I don't like this movie tho I like Jennifer - I have tried to watch it 2 or 3 times and it's very slow going/getting into - eventually I will watch all of it and probably like it

The topic involved dealing with death and moving on with life. Not exactly a fun topic. I like the actors but I didn't care about the characters at all. The best part about this movie was Seattle. I love visiting Seattle so it was fun to see places around the city that I recognized. I even fast forwarded through some of it just to make the movie end sooner. Disappointing.