We don't hear a lot about Warren Beatty these days. He's been away from from Hollywood for a decade now. But once upon a time he made and starred in amazing movies – Reds, Bulworth, The Parallax View, Dick Tracy. Heaven Can Wait is a landmark in his career because it marks the first time he wrote, acted, directed and produced a movie. And it turns out it's a fun, good movie.
Using the 1941 movie Here Comes Mr. Jordan as its basis, Beatty's movie tells the story of Joe Pendleton (Beatty), a football player who is taken to Heaven before his time. This bureaucratic mistake forces Mr. Jordan (James Mason), the heavenly director in charge of sending each soul to their final destination, to find a temporary body for Joe to inhabit while he looks for one that Joe can spend the rest of his life in. Things get more complicated because Joe died on the same day he learned he was going to play for the L.A. Rams, his greatest dream, and he wants a body that will be in shape for him to be in the finals.
The movie gets going when Joe is put in the body of Farnsworth, a millionaire recently poisoned and drowned in the bathtub by his wife, Julia (Dyan Cannon), and his secretary Tony (Charles Grodin). Nothing beats Julia's reaction when she sees her husband placidly walk into the living room as if nothing had happened. Trying to kill him again becomes a running gag through the movie and Grodin and Cannon pull off hilarious performances as a pair of greedy, scheming murderers, paranoid about whether or not the millionaire knows they're trying to kill him.
Putting a simple guy like Joe in the body of a millionaire also allows the movie to make some jokes about the business world. In a memorable scene, after inviting several reporters to a private meeting of stockholders, Joe uses football as a metaphor to how business should be run, leaving the stockholders completely baffled. Farnsworth's seedy businesses also brings Joe close to Betty (Julie Christie), an environmental activist. To the shock of his partners, he starts showing a lot of concern about the harm his company may be doing to people.
All this strange behavior is usually chalked up to the eccentricities of a rich man. And there's nothing more eccentric than buying the L.A. Rams so Joe can play in the finals. After convincing his former trainer, Max (Jack Warden), that he's back, Joe starts training until fate intervenes again in a way he wasn't expecting.
There's almost nothing wrong with Heaven Can Wait; that's not to say it's a great movie; but for what it tries to be – a lovely fantasy comedy/romance – it's very good. There's nothing pretentious or overly ambitious about it; Beatty and his crew and actors just want to make an entertaining movie and that's what it is. The chemistry between the actors never fails to be felt in each scene – whether it be between the energetic Joe and the serene Mr. Jordan, between Julia and Tony in their murder plots, in Max and Joe's friendship, or in Joe and Betty's romance, the actors connect with and compliment each other instead of just delivering their lines.
The movie has some storytelling problems towards the end: first events start being rushed to the finale instead of being given some room to develop, and then the finale contradicts the movie's premise. It makes the movie end in a pretty downbeat way, not that I dislike downbeat endings, but I prefer them when they come naturally. This imperfect note, however, isn't enough to ruin what is otherwise a well-acted and entertaining movie.
Using the 1941 movie Here Comes Mr. Jordan as its basis, Beatty's movie tells the story of Joe Pendleton (Beatty), a football player who is taken to Heaven before his time. This bureaucratic mistake forces Mr. Jordan (James Mason), the heavenly director in charge of sending each soul to their final destination, to find a temporary body for Joe to inhabit while he looks for one that Joe can spend the rest of his life in. Things get more complicated because Joe died on the same day he learned he was going to play for the L.A. Rams, his greatest dream, and he wants a body that will be in shape for him to be in the finals.
The movie gets going when Joe is put in the body of Farnsworth, a millionaire recently poisoned and drowned in the bathtub by his wife, Julia (Dyan Cannon), and his secretary Tony (Charles Grodin). Nothing beats Julia's reaction when she sees her husband placidly walk into the living room as if nothing had happened. Trying to kill him again becomes a running gag through the movie and Grodin and Cannon pull off hilarious performances as a pair of greedy, scheming murderers, paranoid about whether or not the millionaire knows they're trying to kill him.
Putting a simple guy like Joe in the body of a millionaire also allows the movie to make some jokes about the business world. In a memorable scene, after inviting several reporters to a private meeting of stockholders, Joe uses football as a metaphor to how business should be run, leaving the stockholders completely baffled. Farnsworth's seedy businesses also brings Joe close to Betty (Julie Christie), an environmental activist. To the shock of his partners, he starts showing a lot of concern about the harm his company may be doing to people.
All this strange behavior is usually chalked up to the eccentricities of a rich man. And there's nothing more eccentric than buying the L.A. Rams so Joe can play in the finals. After convincing his former trainer, Max (Jack Warden), that he's back, Joe starts training until fate intervenes again in a way he wasn't expecting.
There's almost nothing wrong with Heaven Can Wait; that's not to say it's a great movie; but for what it tries to be – a lovely fantasy comedy/romance – it's very good. There's nothing pretentious or overly ambitious about it; Beatty and his crew and actors just want to make an entertaining movie and that's what it is. The chemistry between the actors never fails to be felt in each scene – whether it be between the energetic Joe and the serene Mr. Jordan, between Julia and Tony in their murder plots, in Max and Joe's friendship, or in Joe and Betty's romance, the actors connect with and compliment each other instead of just delivering their lines.
The movie has some storytelling problems towards the end: first events start being rushed to the finale instead of being given some room to develop, and then the finale contradicts the movie's premise. It makes the movie end in a pretty downbeat way, not that I dislike downbeat endings, but I prefer them when they come naturally. This imperfect note, however, isn't enough to ruin what is otherwise a well-acted and entertaining movie.