Review: Eckhart-Aniston’s ‘Love Happens’ lacks romance

Spicezee Bureau

Los Angeles: Directed by Brandon Camp, ‘Love Happens’ is a romantic drama, which sees Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart as a couple, who finds love amid tragedies. But the film apparently doesn’t do justice to its title as the story has little to do with whether love happens or not, finally. Burke Ryan (Aaron Eckhart), the lead character of the film, is the writer of a book called “A-Okay”. Following the death of his wife in an accident, Burke, who happens to be a trained psychologist, needs someone to tell him how to feel about his own personal tragedy. The film starts with Burke arriving in Seattle, where he used to live with his late wife, to be the motivational speaker in his seminar on how to move on after losing someone. But he’s confronted by his former father-in-law (Martin Sheen), who calls him a hypocrite. But there’s Jennifer Aniston, who fits into all of this, to give a romantic dimension to the scene. However, the actress, who plays Eloise, the owner of a boutique flower shop, seems to be like a secondary figure here. Despite having broken up with her boyfriend only 24 hours before Burke arrives in town, Eloise soon begins to date the death counselor, after having a rocky encounter initially. On the whole, Burke-Eloise romance apparently isn’t fully developed till the movie ends, and it takes a back-seat when compared to the serious issues raised by the movie. The best part about the film is an outstanding performance by Eckhart as Burke. Whereas, Aniston seems aware of the fact that she’s more of a support as the catalyst and she intelligently underplays her performance. ‘Love Happens’ can be watched for anything but romance. Rating: Two cheers