Love Happens
Product Description
Eckhart plays Dr. Burke Ryan, a motivational guru whose bestselling books and seminars purportedly are to help the masses deal with their feelings of grief and loss--but he also finds he uses his massive success as an excellent device to distance himself from his own feelings. Aniston is a successful florist, who, after a string of really bad relationships (her pal says, "you tend to fall for guys with expiration dates right on their foreheads"), has sworn off men. The two meet cute when they literally bump into each other in the Seattle hotel where Eckhart is holding a seminar. It's to both actors' great credit that what seems like an instant connection is really quite believable, though of course the characters' first instinct is to each run the other way. Eckhart and Aniston have believable, adult chemistry, something often missing from contemporary American film. Their emotional baggage has shaped them, and must be opened, organized, and then properly stowed for takeoff; Love Happens gives careful attention to that all-too-necessary process.
Martin Sheen has an excellent supporting role as the father of Burke's late wife--and who clearly sees the pain his son-in-law is steeping in, despite success beyond his wildest dreams. Director and co-writer Brandon Camp (John Doe) has a sure knack for dialogue and for connecting characters. He also is adept at letting a setting--in this case, Seattle--develop as a moody and appropriate backdrop for his story. (Though purists and Seattleites will have fun watching for the many breaks in continuity, between shots of the city and of Vancouver, where much of the film was shot.) "You have to give yourself permission to live your life again," Burke's friend (Dan Fogler) urges him. Words to live--and love--by. --A.T. Hurley
★★★☆☆ Just not enough
My message to you: if you're a rabid fan, buy this. If not, skip it.
My message to Jennifer's agent: take a risk, take a challenge. Show us more of her acting range, more of her acting talent, and, to be blunt, more of her. She is gorgeous, and we want more of everything...now...
★★★★★ Love Happens- A healin' is a comin'
★☆☆☆☆ Gay-okay
★☆☆☆☆ Should Have Been Called, 'This Seminar Is Taking Way Too Long'
The saddest thing about the whole pie is that it took two knuckleheads to actually write it.
By the end, I didn't really realize that love happened, I just kept thinking that it was a really long seminar in Seattle and that nothing was resolved at all...and what kind of seminar is this, anyway? I couldn't tell if he was a motivational speaker, a grief counselor or a lying hypocrite. Maybe the answer is All of the Above.
Aaron Eckhart plays a motivational counseling hypocrite who has lost his wife in a devastating car accident. Don't worry if you miss the flashback the first time because it's rehashed at least eight more times throughout this masterpiece. They just speed up the film rate (aka slow motion) of the dog on the rainy road for maximum impact...but it honestly just makes you laugh the more they show it.
Anyway, Aaron sees a pretty flower girl who sure lounges around this hotel lobby an awful lot. It seems like she should be in housekeeping as opposed to a florist. Her name is Jennifer Anniston. He asks her out and they fumble their way through scenes for about an hour + where nothing really happens and neither character is remotely interesting.
A bad sign for a romantic comedy is when neither character has any redeeming quality. Eckhart sits around, drinks vodka and feels sorry for himself regarding the loss of his wife....yet he runs a seminar on trying to help people how to cope with a loss. There's a bumbling character that wants to quit the seminar, who lost his son, and the filmmakers stumble their way trying to make this some sort of subplot...thankfully, all Aaron has to do is to take him to the Home Depot and give him a shopping cart. Huh?
This movie almost lost me at the very beginning when there is a montage of artsy compositions of lemons being cut up into wedges. The scene ends where they say something along the lines of, '...you have to make lemonade." The camera pans to the right and there's a bottle of Grey Goose. Whah?
It definitely lost me about four minutes later when we are introduced to who Eckhart is as he gives an introductory speech at his seminar where you're just scratching your head thinking, what the hell was that and what sense did any of it make? "He wins the National Championship Game, goes home, and shoots himself in the face. OK, we're gonna have a great week, I'll see you all very soon!!"
What is Martin Sheen so ticked off about? He hates the bird, he runs to the closing ceremony to yell at his son in law about the bird, he makes up with him, he...what the hell is going on? And who cast Eckhart's sidekick who has a perm mullet and just seems completely out of place the entire time? I do think the best part of the movie is the dramatic confession by Eckhart at the end and they show mulletman in tears. My wife and I were both cracking up.
Here's a little word that I would like to write behind a painting in the hotel lobby that epitomizes everything about this production: "redoubtable"
★☆☆☆☆ unhappy customer
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