Review of Love Happens (2009) by David H — 04 Apr 2011

I thought this was going to be a chick flick, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I think I liked this movie more than the critics or the Flixster Users did. Eckhart plays a man whose wife has died. He meets Aniston and a relationship develops between them.

The man is doing seminars to help people get over their grief, but in reality he is a fraud - he has never really dealt with his own. She helps him do this. I was a little frustrated because I don't think grief gets resolved as easily as the movie portrays it.

The movie tries to deal with a very serious issue, but there is too much humor woven into the script for us to take it as seriously as we should. Aniston has a floral business, but has the strange habit of writing on walls behind pictures in hotels. They never bother telling us why she does this - so now I'm afraid hotel owners will suffer a rash of people going wild with magic markers.

You could say this movie brings two people who are exactly right for each other - together at precisely the wrong time. You are left wondering whether or not they will give love a chance or not.

I suppose it is not a bad premise - that "Love Happens" when you least expect it, but this movie was a poor vehicle for communicating that idea.