Love Happens (2009)

Love Happens: Directed by Brandon Camp. With Aaron Eckhart, Jennifer Aniston, Dan Fogler, John Carroll Lynch. A widower whose book about coping with loss turns him into a best-selling self-help guru, falls for the hotel florist where his seminar is given, only to learn that he hasn’t yet truly confronted his wife’s passing.

“In Love Happens, a motivational speaker helps people in support groups come to terms with their grief. Of course, since this is a Hollywood movie, a romance must be thrown into the plot. The promotional poster makes it look like a strict romance, and the title itself tries to distract from the drama of the actual plot. The romance is not only unnecessary, but it actually harmed my overall enjoyment of the film. If the Jennifer Aniston character didnu0026#39;t exist, I probably would have wanted to watch it again. Once Americau0026#39;s sweetheart, she seems to be typecast in u0026quot;girlfriendu0026quot; roles, where if her character were completely eliminated, the story would plod along just fine. Letu0026#39;s hope she finds a leading role soon.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe reason the movie has any redeeming quality is because of the actors in the small roles. I donu0026#39;t know where the casting director found these actors; it feels like they were secretly taped during a real grief seminar. How do you walk onto a Hollywood set for your one and only scene in the movie, and deliver a powerful tear ridden monologue about your dead child? These people who had five minutes of screen time made the entire movieu0026#39;s viewing worth it. It was truly incredible to watch such talent flit across the screen, however brief the scene. As my grandpa always said, you can find talent even in the smallest town.”