I’ll start by saying I saw approximately half of “Love Happens” (my explanation on twitter), so I’m deferring the overall rating to my wife… but even she wasn’t overly excited after seeing this one.

You should know that “Love Happens” is not a typical romantic comedy, sort of like Jennifer Aniston’s other recent movie “Marley & Me” wasn’t really completely a comedy… mostly because some of the material is more dramatic than comedic.

 From what I saw (my explanation on twitter), “Love Happens” was different, but also slow and at the same time, typical and formulaic… almost cliche.

Smart boy (Aaron Eckhart) meets clever girl (Aniston)… sure its different because he’s something we don’t see much in rom-coms (a motivational speaker) and she’s a florist… but the way they meet and things start is all mostly storylines we’ve seen before in the multitude of  rom-coms churned out over the last three decades.

Aniston’s character is similiar to many of the characters we’ve seen her play before, especially similiar to “Rachel” from “Friends”.   Eckhart is in a different role, but also similiar to the way he has played conflicted characters before.  The two don’t have the kind of chemistry we’ve come to expect in romantic comedies… I’m not going to say they were just going through the motions, but there was little connection on screen, and less with the audience.

In the end, the movie focuses more on how Eckhart’s character is dealing with his problems than an actual romance between the two.  If you’re expecting a “Sleepless in Seattle” sweet budding love story, you’ll be disappointed – just because its set in Seattle (and all the cliche typical shots of Seattle), its not on the same level as “Sleepless in Seattle”.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

(more…)

(RE-POSTING FROM 7/19/08)

“The Dark Knight”: The Best of 2008… and much more

“The Dark Knight” is THE BEST MOVIE so far for 2008, it doesn’t just raise the bar, it bench presses it !!! This has the right mix of everything… not too much joker, not too much batman, not too much action, and not too much dialogue.

 “The Dark Knight” (A spoiler-free review)

MY TAKE: You probably shouldn’t take little kids (because of the graphic and scary images), but if you see it and don’t like this movie… don’t ever go to the movies again… just stay home, watch tv or read a book.. you just lost your movie-going privileges… and you’ll have to earn them back.

Heath Ledger is amazing.. he’s not just playing the Joker… he is the Joker… if you though Jack Nicholson was good as the Joker… wait until you see Heath Ledger’s Joker… its my pick right now for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

CHECK OUT MY INTERVIEW WITH MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL