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Techtite's Movie Reviews! |
"Badly promoted and with at least one ever so slight misstep: anyone who's ever lost a loved one will really feel something after watching this film." --from the review ------------- Sidebar :: ------------- No Sidebar Comments For This Review. Yet... ----------------- Feel free to contribute. As always, review submissions are accepted! ------------------
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Love HappensReview by TechtiteIt happens all the time: you're about to go to a movie with your fellow female "film critic" and she reminds you that last time was your choice, so this weekend is her choice. For us guys, that often means two words: "chick flick." All a guy can hope for is that the chick flick is watchable. Well, as it so turns out, Love Happens is more than watchable. In fact it has more heart than I expected when first entering the theater. It might have the common problem of the publicity department not advertising it right, though that's the studio's problem.The basic premise of this film is simple: when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. While this might seem cliché, ask yourself how many movies you've seen that take this cliché so literally? The lead character is actually making lemonade in the opening of this movie! He even has a book titled A-Okay, and is about to host a support group for people who's lives are anything but. The catch is: the lead character's life is not A-Okay at all, and in truth, he probably needs the most help of all. This lead character is Burke (Aaron Eckhart, The Dark Knight). He's a "Doctor Phil" of sorts whose book has inspired millions of people and he's now well on his way to quasi-celebrity status. He's even been offered a deal for a major publicity campaign that includes his own TV series. Unfortunately this deal requires a return to his hometown of Seattle to sign on the dotted line; the same city where he lost his wife in a traffic accident. He mentions this accident in his book and insists he's "A-Okay" with it. Is he? Well, it wouldn't be a "chick flick" if he was. Another staple of most chick flicks is obvious: a new love interest, which comes in the form of a quirky flower store owner named Eloise. Played by Jennifer Aniston, Eloise is one of the most "mature" roles I've ever seen her play. There is no dog taking a poop or similar slapstick here. This is a serious character in a serious movie. In fact the only reason I call her quirky is because she looks up unique words in the dictionary and then writes the words behind paintings she finds in her many travels, as a sort of calling card that she was there. Yeah I know; these days most paintings are bolted to the walls so no she couldn't really do this, though it's an amusing idea that leads to a cute moment near the end. However, don't let the film title or the publicity machine fool you: Eloise is just one part of a very complicated story about Burke. In fact people looking for a date movie might be very disappointed, since just as much of this movie is about the support group Burke's created, where Burke meets a kindred spirit of sorts. Walter (perfectly played by John Carroll Lynch) lost his son in a freak accident, similar to the unpreventable disaster that took Burke's wife from him. Walter refuses to come to terms with his son's death and it drives Burke crazy, if only because Burke is quite similar to Walter in many ways, yet refuses to see it. It's an emotional part of the movie that takes a good majority of the story, so no; the commercials for this movie are not being totally truthful. This is not a "date movie." If anything it's a drama about a man's self-recovery. Does that make it a bad movie? No...regardless of what the majority of "professional" critics insist. Yes the commercials are misleading. Yes the commercials spoil one of the very last scenes of the movie (why do they always do that?). And, yes the title itself is poorly chosen, not just because Love Happens implies "romance comedy," though because the original title Travelling was far more appropriate. This is a story about one footnote in the travels of a man's life. Yes it involves Eloise, though she's just one part of the story. It's like going to Disney World and mentioning only one moment of the entire vacation. This is a much deeper story than "boy meets girl." That's half the film's charm. If there is one glaring flaw with this film, it's the lack of sweetness to the story: the sugar, if you will, in the alleged "lemonade." One scene with a parrot, in particular, will leave half the audience thinking "thank heaven for some levity" and the other half thinking "how could they put such a silly moment in an otherwise somber movie?" Yet I found the scene to be the typical example of how every day has at least one moment that can give you a good laugh if you let it do so. In conclusion this is not the best of movies, though for us guys, it's hardly the worst in chick flicks, and was actually surprisingly good. While I get the feeling my fellow female "film critic" expected this to be a romantic story, she was pleasantly surprised with the actual film. I'd have to agree. Bad publicity aside, Love Happens is actually very worthwhile.
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