Jennifer Aniston’s role in “Love Happens” is the kind she would have jumped at after “Friends” first season aired.
Yes, she’s the co-star in a major motion picture, but the film affords her little more than that bragging right.
She’s not even the main attraction in this weepy drama. That dubious honor goes to Aaron Eckhart, cast as a self-help guru without a trace of irony.
Eckhart plays Burke, a motivational speaker whose claim to fame is writing a book helping people recover from the loss of a loved one. Suffice to say he lost his own wife three years ago, and before you can say, “Dr. Phil, heal thyself” he’s knee deep in a workshop to help others get better.
Enter Eloise (Aniston), a beautiful flower shop owner who glibly shoots down Burke’s advances by pretending she’s deaf.
Stay classy, Eloise.
Naturally, their paths keep crossing, leading to a series of chemistry-free scenes which seem to indicate a romance is blooming. But is Burke ready for a new relationship? Well, first he’ll have to let a parrot free in the woods, walk over hot coals and make lemonade out of lemons. Literally.
“Love Happens” leaves no emotional cliche unturned, but Eckhart is such an engaging performer we’re left rooting for Burke despite ourselves.
Eloise is a series of minor personality tics in search of a character. We’re told she clings to unavailable men, and she likes to scribble big words on the walls of the hotels where she supplies floral arrangements.
That’s all you get, folks. And Aniston isn’t the kind of actress to find the layers behind such an artificial construct.
Eckhart can, though. He carries the film until we’re force fed the usual trite resolution.
“Love Happens” tackles big themes with little ideas, and it would be nice if the love in question touched, or even glanced, our own hearts.
(Photo: Jennifer Aniston plays a single woman dealing with a complicated new romance in “Love Happens.”/Universal Pictures)
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Fifteen years after “Friends” hits the air, Aniston is still doing the same role she played in “Office Space.” Granted, I’d rather have that than her donning a false nose and pulling a Theron, but I’m not sure whether Aniston is a bug or a feature.