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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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 MOVIE REVIEW 
7

Love Happens Is Manipulative Tripe

Jennifer Aniston rom-com strikes out with critics

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(Newser) – If only love didn't happen. Critics are lambasting Jennifer Aniston's new rom-com, Love Happens—the story of a courtship between a florist and a grieving grief counselor—as predictable and manipulative:

  • It's "an inorganic soap opera," writes Michael Sragow in the Baltimore Sun. "Love happens here with a banality suitable for a film choked with homilies about mourners needing to shift their gaze from the rear-view mirror."

  • "The movie strokes that grief chord over and over again, playing on the emotions of anybody who's ever lost a loved one, in a way that feels claustrophobic and dishonest," writes Stephanie Zacharek in Salon. "I kept counting the minutes until I could escape its cloying, self-helpy vapors."
  • "Two hours of plodding, painfully predictable pseudo-drama interspersed with occasional dollops of comedy lite," sums up Bruce Demara in the Toronto Star.

In this film publicity image released by Universal Pictures, Aaron Eckhart, left, and Jennifer Aniston are shown in a scene from,
In this film publicity image released by Universal Pictures, Aaron Eckhart, left, and Jennifer Aniston are shown in a scene from, "Love Happens."   (AP Photo/Universal Pictures, Kimberley French)
Cast member Jennifer Aniston arrives at the premiere of
Cast member Jennifer Aniston arrives at the premiere of "Love Happens" in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2009.   (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
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7 comments
VIEWING:
 
Jayhawker
Sep 18, 09 2:30 PM CDT
Careful Jennifer Aniston!!! Your love interest is also known as Harvey Dent and I hear he can be real two-faced!!!! Reply
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RobN
Sep 18, 09 2:55 PM CDT
All romantic comedy's are manipulative tripe. That's what people like about them. Reply
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+1
youngblood
Sep 18, 09 4:01 PM CDT
Yeah her work is soo predictable and corny but she's nice to look at and i would never kick her out of bed if given the shot! Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
Antiks
Sep 19, 09 4:59 AM CDT
Yeah, I don't know what Brad Pit was thinking. She's much hotter than "Lips" Jolie.
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-1
Michael_CT
Sep 18, 09 4:05 PM CDT
may this be the nail in Jennifer Aniston's career coffin. please god! Reply
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