Love Happens (2009)

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General		Extras
Category	Romance	Main Menu Audio Deleted Scenes Featurette-Making Of Audio Commentary
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	104:33
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (52:31)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Brandon Camp
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Aaron Eckhart Jennifer Aniston Dan Fogler John Carroll Lynch Martin Sheen Judy Greer Frances Conroy
Case	?
RPI	$39.95	Music	Christopher Young

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Romances and romantic comedies have been coming pretty thick and fast off the Hollywood production line lately, with many being easy to mix-up with others due to recurring themes or similar casts. Jennifer Aniston is certainly one of the cast members who reappear very regularly in these films. Just this month she stars in two of these genre films; this one, Love Happens and The Bounty Hunter.

     This particular film I would classify as a romance with some comedic elements rather than a romantic comedy as such. It is quite emotional and heartfelt in the way it tells its story about loss and coping with loss. It is certainly not a weepy however as there are some amusing scenes but these sometimes seem a little out of place.

     The plot involves widower, Burke Ryan (Aaron Eckhart), whose wife died in an accident and he has since built a career helping others deal with the death of a family member, either through his bestselling book or via multi-day seminars and workshops. He is on a business trip to the city where his wife died, Seattle, running one of these seminars when he meets Eloise Chandler (Jennifer Aniston), a florist providing flowers for the hotel. He is attracted to her but she soon realises that maybe this self-help guru is not as centred and over his grief as he makes out. Can she help him get his life under control?

     This film is competent without ever rising to any great heights, although the quality acting by Eckhart helps to improve the film. There are many clichéd plot points in the film and the plot is certainly very predictable, although that is to be expected in this genre.

     Perfectly acceptable entertainment for fans of the genre.

Video

     The video quality is very good. The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, which is the original aspect ratio, 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp without being up with the best new transfers. Shadow detail was very good. There was some light grain and occasional mild MPEG artefacts.

     The colour was very good following the slightly grey, dull colour scheme of Seattle in cold weather.

     There were no other noticeable artefacts.

     There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired which are clear and easy to read.

     The layer change occurs at 52:31 but is not noticeable.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is good without being spectacular. This DVD contains three audio options, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s and a Commentary track with the same technical specification.

     The dialogue was easy to understand and clear throughout.

     The music consists of a score by Christopher Young plus a variety of pop songs. They both sound fine on this transfer.

     The surround speakers and subwoofer were used for music mostly with little to show off your home theatre.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

     The menu is simple allowing access to the extras and scene selection options. Some of the score music is included.

Deleted Scenes (13:05)

     A long and generally uninteresting selection of deleted scenes, most of which are just filling out sub-plots.

Giving Romance a New Look (3:01)

     Short Featurette about the green screen effects used in various scenes.

Commentary - Director/Writer Brandon Camp, Producer/Writer Mike Thompson & Exec Producer Richard Solomon

     A fairly self-congratulatory commentary which covers the usual bases of casting, locations, shooting and story. OK but nothing special.

    The Region 1 release is basically the same with the exception of extra language options. Draw.

    The video quality is very good. The audio quality is good.

    Some average quality extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall