Love happens. Love happened. Love is happening all around us. In fact, the only place love isn’t really happening is in this movie. Aside from an awfully deceptive title, though, there really isn’t anything awful about it. Take off the romantic-drama hat and take out the tissues — this one’s a Saturday night sob-fest. Centered on a theme of pain, in contrast to the expected sickeningly-adorable love story, Love Happens is a movie about acceptance, grief and letting go. Writers Brandon Camp and Mike Thompson were intrigued by the grieving process and created a story line demonstrating the way people react in the aftermath of loss.

Jennifer Aniston, teaming up again with producer Scott Suber after the 2006 hit romantic comedy The Breakup, is sadly becoming infamous for playing roles of single women unlucky with love. She fits comfortably into her unfortunate yet charming character, Eloise, the flirtatious florist. Co-star Aaron Eckhart plays Dr. Burke Ryan, author of A-OK, an uplifting book with chapters full of coping mechanisms for feelings of anguish and despair. Burke carries people to the light at the end of the grieving tunnel, the same tunnel he has ironically been hiding in for three years since his wife died in a tragic car accident.

A self-help seminar promoting his book brings Burke to Seattle, where he runs into the conveniently available Aniston. After a couple of excessively witty encounters, the two find themselves at an awkward dinner date that exhibits the extent of the romance in the film. (If you’re waiting for romance here, you’ll wait all night.) As their friendship gradually progresses into a stronger friendship, one concludes that Burke is not ready nor is he even looking for a new relationship.

About halfway through the film, it becomes apparent that this “love story” is focused on altogether different emotions than happiness and adoration. Eventually, Eloise recognizes the extreme amount of pain her friend is concealing every day: Burke is miserable. Her sincere and supportive character serves as the much-needed ingredient in Burke’s life, helping him confront the reality of his loss.

Love Happens throws the audience into a battle of grief versus acceptance. Burke holds daily workshops preaching that happiness is a state of mind, and that one can physically create his own happiness simply by “practicing” the act of smiling for five minutes a day. He walks over coals to prove that pain is merely a state of mind. Dedicating all of his time and energy to helping other people conceals the fact that he has yet to help himself.

Aniston’s character, that person who randomly enters life just at the right moment, helps Burke pick up the pieces of his life, urging him to fulfill promises he had made to his late wife and to confront her family. Replacing the anticipated journey to intimacy is the difficult journey to rebirth. Battling the hurt of love and loss, it is apparent that in order to move forward, it is necessary to let go of the past (this is the hard part for us non-celebrities).

Eckhart brings great energy to the film, and it is seemingly impossible for Aniston not to dazzle. The pair dangles around the message that it is possible to rediscover yourself in the aftermath of a loss. And it’s worth the quick mention that Martin Sheen has a minor role that happens to afford one of the most passionate scenes in the entire movie.

Love Happens is deeper than its cookie-cutter trailers imply, better than its terribly misleading title promises and delivers all the pain, melodrama and liberation an audience member could ever desire.