Jenny Aniston has the romantic comedy sewn up better than Carnie Wilson. Every film she appears in seems to be a sappy comedy with slight dramatic elements or a drippy drama tinged with a little comedy. Rumor Has It, The Good Girl, The Break Up, He’s Just Not That Into You, and now Love Happens with Aaron Eckhart.
I’m not a big Jen fan. It seems to me that she is basically playing Rachel Green in every movie she’s in. The weird thing about appearing in all these romantic comedies is that you think she would be good in them, because if TMZ and Perez Hilton have taught me anything, it’s that these films seem to mirror her own life. Aniston’s dating history is better documented than the history of this country (come to think of it you would think with all the press it receives her dating history is more important than the history of the United States). I’m sure there’s still a ways to go since she’s only up to the B’s now while she dates Gerard Butler. (Do you think he wears the wardrobe from 300 to bed?)
The new film looks like it’s about a girl who helps a guy feel again, or a guy who lost something and can’t find happiness, or a girl with a best friend who pops up at weird times. I’m guessing Chandler doesn’t just drop in and make some funny comment. Jen’s co-star is Aaron Eckhart who is one of those actors that instantly brings credibility to the film because he is so good at what he does.
Along the same lines as Gene Hackman or Morgan Freeman, Aaron automatically raises the prestige of the film. So I’m left wondering why he would accept a role opposite someone who gained popularity because of a certain hair style she had. Without Eckhart and Aniston’s names on this movie it would probably have ended up as a well promoted Lifetime movie with Kim Delaney or hopefully Leann Rimes. But tack on two stars (one of whom was married to Brad Pitt) and suddenly you have a feature film.
The movie was made by the same guys who wrote Dragonfly, the weepy Kev Costner film that was more syrupy than a large stack of flapjacks. I can’t stand watching films where I can tell they are trying to pull at the heart strings. Can’t you just elicit real emotions from the audience without begging them to cry?
This film won’t do much for Jenny’s career and the September release proves that no one is really invested in its release. Aniston needs to hope off the gravy train that is romcoms and prove her self as a real actress. She graduated to films based on her television popularity, but no one really acts in television unless it’s on HBO.
So Jen needs to show her range on the big screen. The best way to do this would be to sign up for a big budget action film. This would solve two problems, 1) it would prove she can do more than sappy romcoms and 2) it will shut up all those people who are still comparing her to Angelina Jolie.
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