'Love Happens' Film Review

'Love Happens' (2009)

Okay Impartiality is going to be difficult on this one as it's hard to point at the positives when there is an extreme lack of them.

For a start I can not think of a more inappropriate title for a film that has almost nothing to do with love and everything to do with grievance. It has to be said that it had the potential to be a truly heart wrenching portrayal of someone that has experienced unimaginable loss. With the talents of Aaron Eckhart at the helms of Brandom Camp (Writer/Director) his ability as an actor has been truly wasted in a film I can only describe as a confusion of genres. Its as if the creators have attempted to put a comical/romantic spin on 'what dreams may come' (1998) which quite obviously is a structural mess.

Jennifer Aniston's presence was unnecessary in every way, she was more of a side kick to protagonist Burke than a love interest. Burke felt the need to open is heart to Eloise after just one day of meeting which screamed CRINGE! Even though Burke's story was truly tragic, the writers felt the need to emphasise more on the conventions of romantic comedy than to play to the strengths of the plot. As the story progressed the events became increasingly more pointless and painful to watch. It was a struggle to keep the DVD player switched on and only remained so due to my respect for Aaron Eckhart as an actor and their was also the fact my girlfriend wouldn't have allowed it, she seems to have an undying love for Jennifer Aniston.

Although my criticisms of the story are severe its important to illuminate Burke's occupation as having some interesting Philosophical values in such a way that he is a self-help guru for others that have experienced loss. Through the connection of a certain patient, Burke finds away to finally face his own problems and begin to deal with them in ways that he has taught onto others. But this minuscule part of the plot is short lived and it soon goes back to mono-tonal dialogue between monotonous characters with little meaning and no entertainment.

The surrounding characters had almost nothing to do with anything going on within the story and was a waste of wages. O yeah Martin Sheen appeared to for like 5 minutes. What a waste.

Sean's Movie Rating 3/10