Good performance, utterly depressing and slow film (Love Happens (DVD))

Member Name: emmajt81

Product:	Love Happens (DVD)
Date:	09/11/09 (34 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good performances from Aniston and Eckhart

Disadvantages: Slow moving, depressing, not a romcom which is what its advertised at

So I'm a fan of Jennifer Aniston and I also like Aaron Eckharts work so I thought this looked like a good film to see. From the trailers it looked like a happy go lucky romantic comedy - right up my street. This film is not happy go lucky at all! And it's more of a drama than a romantic comedy. I thought the film was OK but not what I was expecting at all. All the romantic bits (there is one kiss in the whole film by the way) are in the trailer as are all the funny bits. The funny bits are by no means laugh out loud either.

The story is centred about Aaron Eckharts character Burke Ryan. His wife passed away in a car accident 3 years ago and since then he has written a book about how to deal with grief and holds workshops around the country for people who have lost loved ones and aren't coping very well. Once of these workshops happens to be in Seattle, where his wife died and a city he doesn't like returning to. He meets Jennifer Aniston's character Eloise in the hotel he is holding his workshops in - she's a flower arranger and owns her own florists and is a bit of a breath of fresh air for Burke who it seems only has one friend - his agent.

You would think there's be lots of funny bits and pieces going on, lots of romantic exchanges between Eloise and Burke but no. They do go on a date but there is no real romance in this at all, except towards the end of the film. The film focuses more on Burkes personal journey and how he is hiding his grief for his wife by trying to help others deal with their grief. As a result there is a lot of talk about death and not really enough comedy to balance it out. There's a few witty lines throughout, some half amusing scenes but all in all I think the film just fell a bit flat for me. Seems like Jennifer Aniston will star in any film that gives her a paycheque these days - not sure about Aaron Eckhart though - he usually makes better choices than this.

Both their performances are good and solid - not award winning by any means but they both seem to put their all into the roles. It was all just a bit slow paced and depressing for me. Even though there's a 30 second happy romance scene at the end, I came out of the cinema feeling a bit deflated. From the trailer I was expecting a fun romantic comedy and it's not at all what I got. I imagine that was their idea though - to get the romcom audiences through the door and make a bit more money.

There's not really much of a supporting cast - Burke's agent puts in probably the best performance in the film and is one of the only memorable roles. Eloise's best friend is played by Judy Greer - yet again she's reduced to playing the best friend role - typecast as usual. Nothing new from her here - same old routine with a different character name. Not to say she's bad at it, she's not she's actually amusing, but I wish she'd take on something different.

So all in all, although there are some good performances in the film, the story is slow and chugs along at snails pace, it's quite a depressing story with the main focus on death, and there's not enough romance or comedy (or anything of any substance really) for it to be a good film. As much as I love Jennifer Aniston I don't think I'll be adding this to my DVD collection. Once was more than enough!

Summary: If you thought this was a romcom you are wrong. Depressing and slow.