Cubussoli
Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Quiet Muffin
This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.
Curt
Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
HotToastyRag
In Love Happens, a motivational speaker helps people in support groups come to terms with their grief. Of course, since this is a Hollywood movie, a romance must be thrown into the plot. The promotional poster makes it look like a strict romance, and the title itself tries to distract from the drama of the actual plot. The romance is not only unnecessary, but it actually harmed my overall enjoyment of the film. If the Jennifer Aniston character didn't exist, I probably would have wanted to watch it again. Once America's sweetheart, she seems to be typecast in "girlfriend" roles, where if her character were completely eliminated, the story would plod along just fine. Let's hope she finds a leading role soon.The reason the movie has any redeeming quality is because of the actors in the small roles. I don't know where the casting director found these actors; it feels like they were secretly taped during a real grief seminar. How do you walk onto a Hollywood set for your one and only scene in the movie, and deliver a powerful tear ridden monologue about your dead child? These people who had five minutes of screen time made the entire movie's viewing worth it. It was truly incredible to watch such talent flit across the screen, however brief the scene. As my grandpa always said, you can find talent even in the smallest town.
quixote_89
Well, having set down with a glass of wine and an unhealthy amount of chocolate I was in the mood for some syrupy clichés and the usual slushy chick flick obligatories. As it happened I ended up blubbing my eyes out and writing this review which I have never done for any other movie to date. This is certainly a chick movie, but the acting from Eckhart and Aniston is beautifully parred down and Aniston really shows why she should be given more credit in this genre. Without giving spoilers, the trailer really doesn't do it justice, this is a film containing a journey about Eckharts character not just a blossoming relationship, which is what the trailer really tends to mislead the audience with. The relationship between Anistons character Elouise and Eckhart's Burke is really sweet and shows the maturity of the characters as well as the realism of the situation. OK, the story is reasonably predictable and you kind of see the end coming, but its very entertaining, thought provoking and life affirming.All round good stuff :)
edwagreen
This is basically a film dealing with people who are expert at giving advice but cannot deal with their own personal lives. In the film, Aaron Eckhart plays a widower who basically does grief seminars with people. His wife was killed in a tragic auto accident and the truth be told, he has not been totally forthcoming about the accident.While giving one of his seminars, he meets Jennifer Aniston, who has just broken up with her boyfriend, and you know where this is going. Martin Sheen plays his understanding father-in-law.There is generally not much going on between Aniston and Eckhart in this film.
MBunge
This film is like a less funny, more heartfelt version of Along Came Polly. I'm not sure why Jennifer Aniston wanted to play an even more underdeveloped second banana in another story about a guy dealing with his emotional issues but if you loved the first edition, you'll like this inferior doppelganger. Basically, if you gave Along Came Polly an "A", you'll give Love Happens a "B-".Burke Ryan (Aaron Eckhart) is a guy who's become a media star by writing a book on dealing with grief. On the verge of launching himself as an international corporate brand, he returns to his hometown of Seattle to host a week long seminar for folks still dealing with loss. There, he's struck by the beauty and quirkiness of a florist named Eloise (Jennifer Aniston) and asks her out. She responds by pretending to be deaf, though they eventually go out on a few dates in the evening while Burke continues to help people at his seminar during the day. But both Burke's seminar and his relationship with Eloise are undermined by a secret. Though he's become famous counseling other people on their grief, Burke remains emotionally paralyzed by his wife's death 3 years ago.Let's be clear about something. Despite its title and its marketing campaign, Love Happens is not a romantic-comedy. It does have some decent humor and rudimentary romance. As previously mentioned, it's also structurally similar to Along Came Polly, which was an actual romantic-comedy. However, Love Happens is really a mildly amusing story about the power and burden of grief. I can only imagine the studio feared people wouldn't be interested in paying money to watch a mildly amusing story about the power and burden of grief, so they've tried to fool everyone into thinking it's a rom-com. Which is a shame, because this is a decent movie that is appealingly different from a generic chick flick. It takes the subject of grief seriously, both how it can cripple people emotionally and the ways in which people can deal with it. Burke's honest and deep wish/need to help folks get out of the very trap he's stuck in makes him quite sympathetic. His struggle to help a guy named Walter (John Carroll Lynch) come to grips with the death of his son, while Burke can't bring himself to do the same with the death of his wife, defines him as both noble and relatable.Jennifer Aniston doesn't have much to work with in Love Happens. Eloise as a character isn't anything more than a collection of rom-com clichés and some arbitrary quirks that are never explained or elaborated upon. She's gorgeous, of course, and the lack of depth to Eloise seems to allow Aniston to give a performance just a bit beyond the genre standard. Instead of being stuck with the contrived mannerisms of heartsick lonely girl, Aniston plays Eloise as a grown, functional woman who's just made some bad relationship choices. That extends to the romance with Burke, which isn't much of a romance. These aren't two people falling in love at first sight. They're grown ups who are only trying to get to know each other. The story doesn't force them together, which makes their attraction more believable and engaging.Love Happens does have some laughs, though it doesn't try and wring humor out of everything in the story. It also has a big emotional climax that ends with one of those slow speed standing ovations. You know, where one person starts slowly clapping and everyone else joins in? That's such a stupid and insultingly manipulative rom-com cliché, it's actually quite surprising to see it in a 2009 film. It's like having a pie fight break out during an episode of 30 Rock.This is an okay film with two likable stars and a story that doesn't follow the same formula you've experienced many times before. I think that makes it worth seeing. But if you though Along Came Polly was awful, I can't imagine you'll enjoy it more a second time around with fewer jokes and more tugging at your heart strings.
