This movie is an unrecognized masterpiece. It has been dismissed as a failed romantic comedy. It is in fact an marvelous exploration of the grief that accompanies the loss of a loved one. Both the protagonists in this drama have lost someone, and are initially fractured human beings, unable to deal with their own grief. They eventually find love only because they are able to confront their loss, acknowledge it, and move on to new experiences. Enjoyable as a romantic-comedy, but much more life-affirming and satisfying as a meditation upon death. It also contains a relatively positive depiction of the leader of a cult or new religion, which is rare in popular media. In this regard, it can be compared to the Taxing Woman (Marusa no onna) series of Itami Jūzō, which also featured detailed depictions of a new religion.

I'm gonna make it short and crispy. Don't watch it and don't waste 110 minutes of your valuable life. One reason why I got this movie was the cast. Second reason, I was almost done with the unwatched movies of my collection. Third reason, the title of the movie sounds something like "Love Actually", which is one of my favorites. But it is so disappointing.While I was watching, I was just waiting, waiting, waiting that whether it might give me something interesting. But, huh! Not at all. Just a mere waste of time! There was no single instance where I even smiled. So beware, guys! Absolute non-sense movie.

The merit of this movie is that confronted grief, and tried to do so seriously. We know that in daily life, it is hard for any human being just to grief or talk about loss. When I read the critics I see that they have praised this fact but have mentioned that the movie didn't know if to be a comedy or a drama.Grief, life and humor are intertwined in real life. I am no saying that Jennifer Aniston ruined a masterpiece about grief or that the movie didn't have other faults but wherever she is "being herself" (which is Jennifer Aniston over and over) with her fidgeting, her usual getting stuck to pronounce words or express herself,the usual movements of her head like saying hello?? Her superfluous acting, her not getting deep in any emotions, when all this happens any other efforts are cheapen out. She makes everything around look light, silly, frivolous. And for more than others feel what they do and believe their characters , she doesn't seem to have any fiber on her. The only movie when I saw a different performance of JA was "The good girl" but nothing else after that. I was moved by a concept conveyed here: "all these counselors and people that tell us what to do and they haven't examined themselves". That is important. Or the guilt issue which always accompany any grief. When Walter said "I couldn't hold him" this might seem very simple but convey these little details that stay with people when they lose someone and start thinking what they might have done different. And there is little comfort. Aaron Eckhart has this warmth about him that makes him believable. I understand if people don't like the movie, but I think that they tried and the casting of JA didn't help in this effort.It is worthwhile to mention Martin Sheen and John Carroll Lynch as very convincing and effortless performances.

First of all, I have no idea how this got a feature release from a major studio but apparently they believe everyone out there is dumb and will go see any movie marketed with Jennifer Aniston.Second of all, I just really want to talk about the beginning and ending because the rest of it isn't even worth writing about.It starts with Eckhart's character tossing back Grey Goose like he's a closet alcoholic which is what you'd expect to happen...but doesn't. And that's too bad actually because it would have been better than what we got. In fact, they never explain why they clearly started on that path but my hunch is they weren't sure what to do to tie up the corny ending. So, if he is responsible for this wife's death and it is related to drunk driving, how can he admit such a thing to his beloved audience of psycho-babble feel-good clones and risk losing his company and "good" name and gain their sympathy? He can't. But you can bet that was the plan originally.Instead, they wrap it with he was arguing with his wife over "paint swatches" no less, and it was HE who was driving (ooohh shocker!) so of course as it turns out it was he who accidentally swerved and killed his wife. So that was the "surprise" twist, in that it was not her driving and nearly hitting a dog in the middle of the road after all which was his story all throughout the movie. Huh, who'd a thunk it? I like both of the main actors respectively but this was just tepid and contrived. Jennifer is a "B" actress at best, and although always likable (I think anyway) she falls really flat here. Aaron's an A-lister (again, my opinion)or will be and he should try to focus on better quality films. I'd expect this type of film from her but not him.Blah...........! Ps- for people concerned about the bird, really, it's a movie and I am sure the bird is just fine. Unfortunately yes, there are people out there who are just dumb enough to release a tropical bird in the Seattle area or comparable whether they see this movie or not. My hunch is not that many people will ever see this movie so I doubt the city of Seattle will need to worry about a misplaced tropical bird epidemic any time soon.