Love Happens
I have a piece forming at the horizon of my mind, like a cloud that intends hail, about the tiresome undimensional treatment of the widow/er in contemporary Hollywood product, but it will have to wait until the highs start with an 8 again.
This piece is short and can tell you only that Love Happens is as by-numbers, cutesy, and callow as you might have feared. The characters have quirks that belong to a different movie; Aniston and Eckhart have chemistry, but it presents as almost inappropriate; and the supporting cast has a handful of moments that slayed me, but for what? John Carroll Lynch’s teary, shambled-out summation in the aisle of a Home Depot comes, alas, at the culmination of a glib product-placement/breakthrough montage. It’s beautifully acted, and the work that moment is trying to do for the script looks even cheaper by contrast.
Ditto Martin Sheen’s moment with the “parrot” (obviously a cockatiel; just as obviously a cheesy symbol) at the end; sure, it’s a trip to watch a large bird hop onto President Bartlet’s shoulder and Ethel Merman a cheery “Hello!”, but it’s even more interesting to watch Sheen turn a character intended 90 percent as McGuffin into a guy you wish the movie had centered on in the first place. And then it’s just annoying, because the movie doesn’t center on him; it privileges the only-in-the-movies cardboard problems of the super-groomed and not-old, which isn’t always a waste of time but works out that way here.
Tags: Aaron Eckhart Ethel Merman Jennifer Aniston John Carroll Lynch Martin Sheen movies
I remember seeing the posters for this before it came out, and all I could think was, “Gee, that’s a bad title. It calls to mind an ACTUAL phrase people use: Shit Happens.” And, I kind of assumed that’s how the movie would be. That is: shitty.
Most of the reviews at the time made some sort of “shit happens — as you’ll see in this assy film” joke. Easy, but apt.
Exactly! Exactly. I kept thinking “Where was this guy during the rest of the movie?” Also, Bartlet would have told everybody that thing was cockatiel.
John Carroll Lynch is a champ, but shouldn’t be asked to do … that.
I never saw it as it was set largly in Seattle and I’m sick of people walking from the International District to Queen Anne Hill in thirty five seconds (and while I’m up, there’s no school for gifted children among the used needles under the monorail tracks, The Ring. Shut up.)
But I can get on board with the whole “man, where was this guy during the whole A plot?” sentiment–I felt that way during the first two Spiderman movies, when J Jonah Jamison would show up and the whole audience would purr and sparkle, and then he’d go away again and we’d sag back in our seats. I didn’t bother with the third when I realized he was the only character I cared about.
Shoot, how does one do a link to YouTube? There’s a precious discussion about Hollywood’s take on widows/widowers in the MST3K epsiode Eegah, Sars–I think you’d like it.
John Carroll Lynch is undervalued. He was so awesome as Drew Carey’s cross-dressing brother that I find myself looking for him everywhere. Thanks for preventing me from looking for him in this!
This movie was so strange, and (big shocker) incredibly misleadingly marketed. I think the original title was “Traveling Through,” but with the title change and with the poster/promotional teaser positioning Aniston as a co-lead, you go in expecting a somewhat low-key love story. Instead, she is barely in it (which I have no problem with), and the story is much more interested in the grief workshop.
Whew. I feel as though I’ve been spared a two-hour snipe hunt. I had it in my head this was a romcom, which…it doesn’t seem to be. It sounds a lot more like it’s trying to be “Dan in Real Life”, and failing abysmally.
I actually saw them filming this movie at Pike Place Market a while back. It was the one day in April when it wasn’t raining, so they actually had to create fake rain with a water truck for the scene…in Seattle! I haven’t seen it yet, but maybe I’ll check it out to see where they filmed in town.
Also, “Ethel Merman” as a verb: priceless.
Oh, THAt was the movie that was on last time I was at the dentist. I hate having a movie blaring in my face at the dentist anyway (sensory overload) but on top of that, I was there for an emergency extraction.
Needless to say the flick did nothing to improve that experience.