Un Amor Inesperado

The premise of this movie held a lot of potential but unfortunately, Love Happens doesn't deliver as... not much happens in this movie.

Aaron Eckhart, who seems to struggle not to be type-casted as your average guy in light romantic stuff plays... Burke, an ordinary dude trying to overcome his wife's passing by becoming a modern-day guru for people who have lost loved ones.

Jennifer Aniston, who basically embraces her career of being typecast as a romantic interest in romantic flick plays herself once again. This time, she goes by the nickname Eloise but she'll still be that same single woman who's had a string of bad relationships and is till looking for "the one".

Director/writer Brandon Camp doesn't give the character of Eloise much substance, and seems content just to let Aniston do her usual work. He seems to have focus mainly (in the script and on screen) on Burke. In the first few minutes, it seems to work; Burke is an interesting character. The self-help speeches are well-written, the pressure on Burke's shoulders is felt.

Unfortunately, much of the movie revolves around the relationship that develops when Burke and Eloise bump into each others and begin to know each others. Their interest for each others is uninteresting and lacks credibility, in part because Eloise is so poorly sketched and also because, as we learn to know Burke's real issues, it just seems... wrong.

And as the film goes on, it just gets worse as it seems Brandon Camp doesn't understand the topic of mourning very well, and also seems to send the message that using people as emotional crutches, getting involved in relationships when you are not fully ready are good things. Many scenes are almost surreal. Releasing domestic pets into the wild, breaking and entering at your former in-laws, lying, magically curing your sense of loss by shopping at Home Depot... I like quirky stuff, but the mix of comedy, romance and the intense drama underneath wasn't done very well.

To top it off, the whole movie is wrapped in a sort of romantic relationship that never happens, and played out with two actors who have little to no chemistry together.

Aaron Eckhart is a gifted actor that should have no problem finding roles, but as far as a lead, he's been slightly unlucky and needs to select projects a bit more carefully or risk being type-casted in that type of flicks much like his co-lead.

For Aniston, this is the latest in a string of duds. As for Brandon Camp, this isn't his first project tackling grief as he wrote the poor Dragonfly (2002) and I shudder when I look at his next project, Steinbeck's Point of View, which also seems to deal with issues of life and death.

I have nothing against writers who focus on certain issues, as long as they master those issues well, which isn't the case for Camp.

Well I originally now i am writing a review for this, placed it as not interested and so after getting it for the wife and sitting down for some cuddle time I thoroughly enjoyed this flick. I normally poo poo Jenn Aniston's films and thought of all the ones i have seen aside from Derailed I think this is one of her greats. She has such emotion provoked eyes and fit the part nicely. Aaron Eckhart who I wouldn't go out of my way to see a film that has him as the headliner, was great in this but my hats has to go off to ole Martin Sheen who's little bit in this film was great bit of acting along with John Caroll Lynch who played one of Eckhart's character's followers and had lost a family member as well. I have seen John Lynch in only a handful of films but his acting is incredible in all i have seen. Rent this for any who need a good tear jerker cause it will definitely cause some wet faces this im positive...I had something stuck in my eye throughout that caused some tearing up damn next time ill be more prepared lol! Rent this one folks its a winner!

Burke (Aaron Eckhart) is a successful self help guru dealing with the lost of his wife in a car accident. He has come to Seattle for a group seminar for people dealing with their own lost. Florist Eloise (Jennifer Aniston) literally runs into him in his hotel. He tries to ask her out but she pretends to be deaf.

As a romance, it fails. Both Aaron and Jennifer are likable actors but they just don't have the chemistry. Add to it the tough subject matter, it's too hard of a place for romance to blossom. As a character growth movie, it had some moments. Aaron is playing a character going thru some tough stuff. But then he does a silly thing like stealing a bird. It just feels stupid to have comedy there.

I went to a preview of this movie last night with my husband. I was expecting the standard romantic comedy chick flick. Although there are plenty of funny moments in this movie, it has an emotional depth that is very appealing. It also has another really great performance by Aaron Eckhart, who must be one of the most unappreciated actors in the business. I'm no Jennifer Aniston fan, but I have to admit she's a talented actress and not just a celebrity when I see her in a role like this. Judy Greer and Dan Fogler are great in supporting roles.

It's difficult to say much about the plot without giving most of it away. The script is full of the physco-babble you would expect in a movie about a self help guru; sometimes it comes across as intentionally silly, and sometimes it seems to have real meaning. There are small revelations made all the way through the movie that lead up to the final conclusion.

There is also unexpected eye candy in the form of beautiful floral arrangements that contrast well with the gloomy Seattle weather.

I was afraid my 56-year-old husband would complain about driving 45 minutes to see a movie like this on a week night. But he also enjoyed it, and there were no complaints. Most of the people in the theater also seemed to enjoy it, although I have to admit that they didn't laugh as much as we did. Not a "must see", but if you're looking for some good entertainment, you could do far worse.

As others have said, the characters are not very well developed and it's a fairly shallow romantic comedy. It's okay.

The one thing that bothered me was that Burke is supposed to release his deceased wife's cockatoo into the wild. Who in the world thought that up? Tropical bird that has been living in a house and has never learned to forage on its own will not last long in the wild. Especially a tropical parent that is taken out in cold weather and released. This bird has never built a nest so how's that bird going to stay warm? And there are not other cockatoos in Seattle living in the woods! This was really disturbing.

Jennifer Aniston is too good for these silly romantic movies. I wish you could get more meaty parts where she can show that she actually is an actress.