Love Happens (2009)
Average Rating: 3.9/10
Reviews Counted: 106
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 88
Love Happens is a dull, chemistry-free affair that under-utilizes its appealing leads.
Average Rating: 3.7/10
Critic Reviews: 27
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 25
Love Happens is a dull, chemistry-free affair that under-utilizes its appealing leads.
liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 124,669
My Rating
Movie Info
The directorial debut of Brandon Camp concerns a widower (Aaron Eckhart) who makes a living as an expert on grieving. During the course of teaching a seminar, he meets and begins to fall for a floral designer (Jennifer Aniston), a discovery that leads him to face up to the fact he has not fully reconciled the loss of his wife. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
Sep 18, 2009 Wide
Feb 2, 2010
$22.9M
Universal Pictures
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Aaron Eckhart
Burke -
Jennifer Aniston
Eloise -
Dan Fogler
Lane -
John Carroll Lynch
Walter -
Martin Sheen
Burke's Father-in-Law -
Judy Greer
Marty -
Frances Conroy
Eloise's Mom -
Joe Anderson
Tyler -
Sasha Alexander
Photographer -
Clyde Kusatsu
Cab Driver -
Anne Marie De Luise
Unicom Executive -
Panou
Unicom Executive -
Tyler McClendon
Unicom Executive -
Michael Kopsa
Unicom CEO -
Michelle Harrison
Cynthia -
Darla Vandenbossche
Beehive -
Tom Pickett
Don -
Patricia Harras
Lorraine -
Aurelio di Nunzio
Moustache -
Danielle Dunn-Morris
Book Fan -
Maxine Miller
Barbara -
Tim Henry
Welling Eyes -
Ellie Harvie
Martha -
Randall Newsome
Waiter -
Carol Hodge
Becky -
Craig Anderson
Ian -
Deejay Jackson
Hotel Bartender -
Brandon Jay McLaren
Mohawk -
Rekha Sharma
Nose-Ring -
Alessandro Juliani
Tattoos -
Ellen Ewusie
Hookah Waitress -
Angie Scandale
Hookah Bartender -
Deirdre Blades
Burke's Mother-in-Law -
Monica Marko
Old Lady -
Shaine Jones
Valet -
Michael P. Northey
Bathroom Man
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Love Happens Trailer & Photos
All Critics (107) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (88) | DVD (3)
The sorrowing widower is a great subject for film romance; but the point is to let the girl have a proper crack at cheering him up. And, as always with love, a GSOH would help.
Top CriticAaron Eckhart is commanding as a deeply flawed man in Brandon Camp's compelling dramedy, 'Love Happens'
Is this a movie or a feature-length advertisement for Qwest? We're not just talking one product placement; this brand name is nearly omnipresent.
Hang in there Jen. You can do better.
Other stuff happens too, all of it strained and dull.
The film is part romance, part drama, part Seattle travelogue, with Washington emerging as the only true winner. Along with the benefactors of the movie's copious product placements, that is.
Too bad the filmmakers didn't realize [its] potential, and instead, decided to ignore the special relationship that these two characters could have had by throwing in a lot of irrelevant and clichéd material.
For as much as this movie tries to wrap itself around an emotionally powerful story, I felt there was a great emptiness inside.
...the movie finally packs a surprisingly resonant emotional punch...
While there is no doubting the appeal of Eckhart and Aniston as a screen couple, their scenes together come over as decidedly slight when compared to the weightier issues raised by the movie as a whole.
It's awful.
This very underwhelming rom-com spends far too much time on the not-so-interesting theories of the hypocritical self-help hero.
Not content with being a romcom that's trite and shallow about love, it's gone one step further - it's trite and shallow about death, too.
Both stars seem bemused in their parts and it is left to Martin Sheen and a pet parrot to emote. The parrot, in fact, is the best thing here.
The film is sentimental and deeply embarrassing... There isn't a laugh or an honest emotion in the whole picture.
click for the full review
Love Happens is more about catharsis than chemistry. It's not a terrible film, but like skydiving lessons, you'd better know what you're getting into beforehand.
Gooey, banal and manipulative rom-com-dram.
Falls between romance and drama without really satisfying either.
As a romance story, Love Happens is nothing special, with the spark between Eckhart and Aniston almost non-existent. But as a drama about grief, it's much more interesting, though the blend of both does not always sit easily.
Lovers of therapy-speak with its "closures" and "I'm in a good/bad place" will probably warm to this film.
Audience Reviews for Love Happens
Super Reviewer
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- Eloise: If you had a brain in either head, you'd know that I'm doing what's best for both of us.
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- Burke: Funerals are important rituals. They're not only recognition that a person has died; they're recognition that a person has lived.
Discussion Forum
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"Sometimes when you least expect it..."
I'll admit, I'm a sucker for a good romance film, and Love Happens fits that bill for me. It was missing something that would catapult it to one of my favorite romances, but as it is, it's a beautiful and moving piece of filmmaking. It's not quite like other movies that populate the genre. It's unique and it follows its own path, even if that path leads to the same place.
A self-help author who lost his wife three years earlier goes to Seattle for a sold-out seminar. While there he meets a florist, fresh out of a relationship. While getting to know her, he starts to realize that even though he coaches people on how to move on from a loved ones death; he himself can't do that, and maybe Eloise(the florist) is the perfect person to help his with it.
Initially, I decided to give the film a chance because I'll watch anything with Aaron Eckhart or Judy Greer in it. I'm not a fan of Jennifer Aniston, but in Love Happens; she gives a good performance. Eckhart was, like usual, very good. A good supporting cast goes a long way in making the movie what it is as well.
It could be argued that Love Happens pulls on the heartstrings a little to often, but it could be argued that Elephants are to big. Love Happens is what it is. Yeah, it pulls the tearjerker card at times, but the important thing is that when it does, it works. The movie isn't looking for tears that don't come, at least in my case. I really enjoyed the film and I recommend it to anyone who has any love at all for a good romance.