LOVE HAPPENS

LOVE HAPPENS is the story of a self-help author, Burke (played by Aaron Eckhart) who unexpectedly meets Eloise (played by Jennifer Aniston) and discovers that he doesn’t practice the very principles he teaches.

Burke lost his wife in a car accident and wrote a book about grief called “A-Okay” which surprisingly (to him) became a best seller. Burke now conducts week long seminars on how to cope with the death of a loved one.

His friend and agent books him into Seattle, where he used to live with his wife. As the memories come back, Burke meets Eloise and he begins to have feelings for her.

However, it becomes very apparent that he has never dealt with the death of his wife and has even abandoned her parents. Eloise helps him to grow and do the very steps to encounter pain and loss that he tells his seminar participants that they must do.

LOVE HAPPENS is a very well made movie which tells the story with intelligence and wit. The story reveals a little bit at a time, a device that is mirrored with the direction and choice of camera angles. The subplot of a seminar participant’s dealing with the loss of his son is especially moving. Aaron Eckhart gives a fine performance of a troubled man who has a public and private persona.

There are a number of profanities and a few mild obscenities. A woman recites “slam poetry” which includes sexual references. There are a couple of vulgar comments, including a character giving “the finger.” On the positive side, an unidentified man does cross himself.

Though the movie points out the need to grieve and to face reality directly, which are both biblical principles, there is no mention of God nor a mention of the afterlife, though death of loved ones is a subject of the movie. This leaves the story ultimately a bit hollow.

For this reason, discernment is necessary to enjoy this well made drama.