9/10
One of the Most Adorable Films of the 90's
19 January 2012
In 1959, in San Francisco, the telephone operator Penny Washington (Alfre Woodard) leaves her three children to work in her night shift. The shy singer Harrison Winslow (Charles Grodin) is afraid of the stage and quits his audition. The waitress Julia (Kyra Sedgwick) is proposed by her boyfriend and she does not accept; then she regrets and leaves her job to seek him out. The smalltime thief Milo Peck (Tom Sizemore) tries to retrieve a valuable collection of stamps that he had stolen from a boy. They embark in a bus and the driver Hal (David Paymer) distracts while driving and has a serious accident, and driver and passengers die. Meanwhile, Frank Reilly (Bill Calvert) is driving his pregnant wife Eva Reilly (Lisa Lucas) to the hospital. Frank successfully escapes from the bus but Eva is nervous and delivers her baby in the car. The souls of the four passengers become the guardian angels and the invisible friends of the boy Thomas Reilly. Seven years later, Penny, Julia, Harrison and Milo conclude that they are harming the boy and they decide to become invisible also to him.

Thirty and something years later, Hal returns with his bus to take them four and the quartet learns that they had all those years to resolve the issues of their lives. They ask Hal to stall and give some more time for them to resolve their unfinished lives and they decide to come back to Thomas (Robert Downey Jr.), who is now a tough businessman and indecisive in his relationship with girlfriend Anne (Elisabeth Shue), and ask him to help them to resolve their issues and become free souls. In the end, Thomas also becomes a better man.

"Heart and Souls" is one of the most adorable films of the 90's. The writer uses the central idea of the successful "Ghost" (1990) to make a witty and delightful comedy, with state-of-art special effects in 1993.

Kyra Sedgwick, Tom Sizemore, Alfre Woodard, Charles Grodin and Robert Downey Jr. show an amazing chemistry and they really seem to have fun while shooting this film. Kyra Sedgwick shows a beautiful smile and Robert Downey Jr. is hilarious. The cameo of B.B. King is a plus that gives the status of cult to this film. The message in the end is very nice and I do not recall how many times I have seen "Heart and Souls" on VHS in the 90's. Yesterday I saw it on DVD for the first time and I only regret that there are no extras, only the film. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Morrendo e Aprendendo" ("Dying and Learning")
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