Review: 'Love Happens,' But Not Joyfully

'Love Happens' (PG-13) (out of four)

Jennifer Aniston wears some really cute clothes in her new movie "Love Happens," lots of colorful scarves, and a really great hat.

Aaron Eckhart's hair is sprayed to perfection even when he's trudging through a forest looking for a place to release his deceased wife's pet parrot (it is really a cockatoo, but it is referred to as Rocky, the parrot, in the movie).

The shots of Seattle look great, although most of the filming was done in Vancouver.

And it's good to see Martin Sheen on the big screen, despite that his character, Silver, an ex-Marine, is only in four scenes.

The reason all of this peripheral drivel is so top of mind is because even though love is supposed to happen in "Love Happens," two people get together, but it's difficult to decipher if love really does happen.

Part of the predicament is that this is a story told 1,000 times, and therefore it meets with the same predictable outcomes. Handsome guy and good-looking girl meet, and despite red flags and faults, they still eventually come together in one way or another.

They meet by bumping into each other clumsily in a hotel hallway, and that's how the love story unfolds. Just as an aside, has anyone ever really started a relationship by literally bumping into someone, or is that one of those happenstance things that only occurs in movies?

Burke Ryan (Eckhart), a nationwide self-help sensation, has arrived at the Hyatt in Seattle (product placement runs rampant in this movie, including pitches for Grey Goose vodka, Teleflora, Home Depot and any other place a label can be inserted) where he's conducting a sold-out, weekend long workshop.

A regular Dr. Phil who teaches people how to face their fears, especially those coping with loss, we quickly learn he has trouble confronting his own. Ryan knows pain. His best-selling book was a cathartic exercise to help him get through the trauma of his wife dying in a car accident three years prior.

Aniston, a florist named Eloise Chandler ("Friends" anyone?), has a steady gig at the hotel as its floral arranger. Personally, she's been burned too many times by the men in her life. As her sole employee, Marty (Judy Greer), puts it: "You tend to fall for the guys with expiration dates on their foreheads."

So when Burke's bump leads to an icebreaker to later ask for a coffee date, she plays deaf, admonishing his advances with sign language. When he discovers she's not deaf, the pair bicker, which then leads to a scene with Eloise confronting Burke in the men's restroom. Thank goodness, debut director Brandon Camp and his co-screenwriter, Mike Thompson, spare us an obligatory hotel romp between the two, which could have easily been tossed in as part of isn't that what happens when love happens?

Gradually, Eloise sees the soft side of the pushy PhD. She watches through a banquet room door as he leads the self-help group in an exercise about facing fear. He walks on hot coals to prove his point to a father (John Carroll Lynch of "Fargo" fame) who is unwilling to let go of the loss of his 12-year-old son. Therapists will most likely not condone Burke's blistering tactics for getting patients to be more compliant.

It's scenes like this where Eckhart and Aniston actually save the film from being completely rained out, and create some redeeming moments. Yet despite their efforts, this romantic comedy never rises above its state of mourning. Even Eloise's trendy outfits and Burke's perfect hair can't cure that.