The film follows Burke, played by Aaron Eckhart, as a widowed self-help guru destined to meet Eloise (Aniston) a conveniently soon-to-be single florist in Seattle, the town where his late wife's family resides.

Co-written by Camp and Mike Thompson, the story follows Eloise as she helps Burke release his built-up anguish. Although the film tries valiantly to steer clear of the romantic genre's pitfalls, mostly avoiding cheesy comedy, it drags audiences through the rest.

Burke is a best-selling therapist and grief guru returning to Seattle for a counseling seminar to promote his book. His visit is much improved when he smacks into Eloise in his hotel, and discovers her intriguing yet peculiar word games. She'll occasionally write an unusual word like "quidnunc" on the wall behind a painting as a sort of hobby. Burke finds this intriguing and pursues her.

Funny it may seem, but this is serious business, and “Love Happens” doesn't dare poke fun at Burke's line of work, or his crises of newfound celebrity. His own despair over a fatal car accident involving his wife has distorted his perspective, and while some may require group therapy to overcome life's obstacles, for Burke it only takes a florist.

While Eckhart's charisma gives the feature its much-needed topspin, Aniston is well short of the baseline, and her back-hand comments fail to make this romance a believable one. Her comfort zone, the twinkly-eyed Rachel from “Friends,” is on display once again; while this is nice, the performance does not captivate.

Though Eckhart is charming, his ever-so-slightly insincere approach makes him well cast as a motivational speaker – in this case, one who earnestly wants to help people but needs to fix himself first. In spite of that, there just isn't enough to the part for Eckhart to sink his teeth into. His character is hardly insightful, and you wonder why anyone would take his advice. Though not quite as eccentric, think Tom Cruise in “Magnolia.”

Aniston's role is underwritten to the point that her character barely takes shape. The movie's only real emotion takes place on its fringes. The truest moments belong to John Carroll Lynch, playing Walter, a rugged contractor whose life unravels after the death of his young son. He's praiseworthy, the dissident in Burke's seminar, for refusing to play along with Burke's games, like walking over hot coals. Martin Sheen steals the show with the most human moment as Burke's tough-guy father-in-law who bares his soft side during the climactic assault on viewers' tear ducts.

The movie's so blunt in its greeting-card symbolism that Burke even has to rescue his wife's pet bird and let it fly free. There is also more product placement than sincerity in this film: Seattle sure looks nice and the trip to Home Depot to “cure” Walter with a shopping spree is both superfluous and distracting.

To its credit, this film attempts to leave behind traditional romantic comedy material with a more serious tone. Instead, “Love Happens” is a sober look at overcoming grief. But for all the lack of comedy, it really doesn't stray far from genre conventions.

Clichés abound, from the best mates' emotional support of Burke to the concluding sequence, featuring one of the cheesiest clichés there is: the melodramatic “slow clap.” This isn't just cheese, this is macaroni and cheese. No one takes the slow clap seriously anymore. The scene is meant to be serious, but you can't help but laugh. A lively, modern soundtrack and quirky supporting cast keep the film moving. The film's attempt at offering something different than a standard-issue light-hearted chick flick makes it at least a bit unique. But, ultimately, “Love Happens” left me unconvinced that it actually does.