Love Happens

Love Happens is an indecisive film. I wasn’t sure if it was trying to be a drama, or a romantic comedy. I feel it worked best as a drama. The tonal shift towards comedy seemed out of place and when the film traveled into romantic territory, it often went off the map all together.

Aaron Eckhart plays an author and motivational speaker who wrote a book on dealing with loss. He challenges other people to be honest with their emotions and to force themselves to work through their pain. But when his own father-in-law (Martin Sheen) buys a ticket for his seminar in order to call him out on his own hypocrisy, he is shaken. Once confronted, a chink develops in his armor, which soon turns into a crack. And as he starts to unravel, in the city where his own loss occurred, he is forced to deal with his emotional baggage.

Being committed to stay and finish his seminar, Aaron’s character takes a piece of his own advice and asks Jennifer Aniston out on a date, his first in over 3 1/2 years. She shoots him down, but he recovers and perseveres, eventually wearing her down. I don’t feel that the film ever gives us a complete portrait of Jennifer’s character. All we know about her is that she makes poor decisions concerning men and that she plans really awesome dates. To be consistent within the film, I think that she should have been more flawed. Her character was too quirky to be real, and it was strange when she displayed the position of strength.

My two favorite performances in the film were John Carrol Lynch as Walter and Dan Fogler as Lane. John plays a grieving father dealing with the loss of his son. His whole live was destroyed by his son’s death and in order to heal, he must make himself vulnerable to others. I also admired Dan Fogler who plays Aaron Eckhart’s manager. He is so excited about brokering Aaron’s next deal that he acquires tunnel vision about it, yet he is still enough of a friend to realize his client is in turmoil and puts his feelings first.

There are some really nice moments in this film, but overall I believe that the movie is just as flawed as the characters in it. A stronger identity for the film was required. Mixing genres is tricky at best, and when you do, the tone and balance must be just right. This film was a little off and weighed in on the side of maudlin.

Rating: Rent It Some nice little moments worth seeing