Aaron Eckhart plays a widower named Burke, whose book about grieving turns him into a phenomenon. Reinvented as a charismatic self-help guru, he falls for Eloise (Jennifer Aniston) at a seminar and is forced to confront the fact that he hasn't come to grips with his own loss.
by Kok Keng
on 18/11/2009 2 of 3 people found this review helpful
What I loved most: John Carroll Lynch
What I really hated: Lukewarm and damp storyline...a bit like the weather in Seattle!
Love Happens is a surprisingly touching movie which unfortunately AND ultimately can't decide whether to be a romantic comedy or a romantic tearjerker... Which is quite a shame because the story about dealing with loss and the healing process could have been a wonderful uplifting movie. The producer or writer should have taken a cue from that magnificent Pixar movie "UP"! It's like "Paris 36" all over again. There is just something curiously unsatisfying about it but yet I enjoyed waithing the little human theatrics that powers this movie. Once again despite two really fine and handsome leads in Aaron Eckhart and Jennifer Aniston, it is another under-rated actor, John Carroll Lynch that stole the show with his utterly heart rending performance of a man who can't moved on with his life after the loss of his son. His pains is so palpable that you will physically will ache with him. Yes, I did shed a tear or two...but luckily also a laugh or two.
"Love Happens" is one of those dramas that you may like or dislike and yet can't point why. There are hits and misses - sometimes it picks up when you thought it would just die, and at times it turns sour when you thought it will be more interesting.
In its warmth and poignant take on the subject of loss, guilt and healing, the film puts two characters to the center - Burke, the motivational speaker-writer who helps people dealing with losses yet fails to cope with his own and the florist Eloise who has a penchant for scrawling difficult words on hotels' walls and feels the need to help him.
While Jennifer Aniston is known for her effervescence on screen, this time around you may see the age creeping unto her face. Not entirely a bad thing since it helps bringing the wisdom into her character. But whether it has made her a better actress, one cannot say. Aaron Eckhart is a competent actor, but he alone cannot capture audiences' attention. However, the movie found its momentum in the character Walter (played by John Carroll Lynch) whose story will turn your interest from its protagonists.
What one will surely like is its soundtrack. Featuring songs from Rogue Waves, Priscilla Ahn and Eels, it probably will have the same fate as "Smokin Aces", where the songs are more likeable than the movie it represents.
If else fail, the scene between Burke and the white parrot will make you go "Awwwwwww..."
