19/365 Love Happens

**missed a few days, the goal is to keep trucking with my challenge.

Starring:   Jennifer Aniston, Aaron Eckhart, Martin Sheen, John Carroll Lynch

Genre: Romantic Comedy (with dramatic undertones)

Discovery:  I will watch any movie with John C. Lynch (worked with him on this film, check it out later this year).

Summary:  Girl meets guy.  Girl doesn’t like guy.  Guy wins her over.  Girl loses guy because of crisis.  Girl and guy fall in love.  The end.  The one saving grace is John C. Lynch’s performance as a dad who has lost his son.  Aaron Eckhart does the best he can with the material he is given.  Some really poignant moments.

First Glance:  Super, high gloss rom-com.  You know you are in trouble when the best parts of the movie involve the B story plot line involving a dad who is grieving the loss of his young son in a freak accident.  The love story is completely lacking. Mostly, I feel as though I am not given a chance to figure out who _______ is. See? I even forgot her name.  (Behind the scene girl says: Jenny gets to wear the best clothes.  Per usual.  Although, not for realism.  What florist wears $900 designer leather jackets?  I don’t know any. *wink*)

Deeper Look:  There are some very emotional scenes in this flick that kept my attention:  watching a husband (Aaron Eckhart) process his role in the death of his wife and a dad (John C Lynch) embracing his life again.  They gave the necessary weight to keep this movie from being a trite piece of mush.  I did find the lighting beautiful & mood enhancing. (More from BTSG:  The “hot coals” looked pretty real and that is quite a feat, it could have come off as phony baloney.)

What I Took Away from this Movie:  Love Happens and is banal as the title.

Final Glimpse:  Watch it for the subplot.  Fast forward through the rest.  Just my 2 cents.