Love Happens
The romcom business is seized with denial, with each chick flick after the other claiming to be "more than the usual romantic comedy." This can be read as disrespectful toward actual fans of romantic comedies--good ones do exist--and can be loosely translated to mean, "It doesn't suck this time, we swear." And while it's true Love Happens deals with unfunny topics like grieving, and is not romantic at all, it's also a baffling potpourri of indelicate clashes of marketing schmaltz and stabs at emotional resonance.
by Marjorie Skinner