Los Angeles quarterback Joe Pendleton is knocked down by a speeding van. An overzealous angel/escort believes Joe to be dead and sends him to heaven only to learn that Joe's time wasn't due to come until the year 2025. Mr Jordan offers Joe another chance at life; the catch is that he needs to find a dead host whom nobody knows is dead as of yet and it seems that a recently murdered multi-millionaire may be the perfect choice...
Heaven Can Wait falls in to that niche category that I like to call "a film that isn't brilliant, but also doesn't have a great deal wrong with it." For me these are the most difficult films to review, but I shall share some of my thoughts...
To begin with the film is billed as a comedy but honestly I didn't see many moments within the film that really had me laughing; though this may just be a case of the film being not quite marketed correctly. If I'm being totally honest I also didn't think that Julie Christie and Warren Beatty were a particularly good fit (there's nothing wrong with their acting, but I just didn't feel that they had much in the way of chemistry and never truly believed in their romance). Have to admit to being slightly disappointed with Charles Grodin as well whom I thought was superb in Midnight Run, but not so here (not entirely his fault he's just not a funny character and isn't given enough to work with).
In spite of what I've said the film does have plenty of positives; the film is charming and likeable and given the journey that Joe goes through in this film then it's really hard not to have a smile on your face throughout the film's runtime. Beatty (whom I'm not a particularly big fan of) does give a winning performance I just wish he had worked with an actress whom he could have shared more in the way of chemistry with. James Mason is good in support, but it was Jack Warden that I thought shined very brightly in this film.
I watched Down to Earth which is a remake of this film before I watched Heaven Can Wait (truth be told I didn't know it was a remake of anything until I'd read some other reviews after I'd watched it). I know that I may receive a bit of backlash for this, but I honestly thought the remake was a slightly better film than this one. Part of the reason I think it worked better is that not only did it have all the heart and charm of this picture, but it also had a comedy actor (Chris Rock) in the main role and this made the remake a funnier film in my book. Beatty is not a naturally comedic actor and it does show here.
Still Heaven Can Wait is worth seeing as there's a nice story here and it's told with a degree of charm, warmth and likeability. To me though it lacks a bit in the way of humour and in a film that bills itself as a comedy that is a slight drawback.
Heaven Can Wait falls in to that niche category that I like to call "a film that isn't brilliant, but also doesn't have a great deal wrong with it." For me these are the most difficult films to review, but I shall share some of my thoughts...
To begin with the film is billed as a comedy but honestly I didn't see many moments within the film that really had me laughing; though this may just be a case of the film being not quite marketed correctly. If I'm being totally honest I also didn't think that Julie Christie and Warren Beatty were a particularly good fit (there's nothing wrong with their acting, but I just didn't feel that they had much in the way of chemistry and never truly believed in their romance). Have to admit to being slightly disappointed with Charles Grodin as well whom I thought was superb in Midnight Run, but not so here (not entirely his fault he's just not a funny character and isn't given enough to work with).
In spite of what I've said the film does have plenty of positives; the film is charming and likeable and given the journey that Joe goes through in this film then it's really hard not to have a smile on your face throughout the film's runtime. Beatty (whom I'm not a particularly big fan of) does give a winning performance I just wish he had worked with an actress whom he could have shared more in the way of chemistry with. James Mason is good in support, but it was Jack Warden that I thought shined very brightly in this film.
I watched Down to Earth which is a remake of this film before I watched Heaven Can Wait (truth be told I didn't know it was a remake of anything until I'd read some other reviews after I'd watched it). I know that I may receive a bit of backlash for this, but I honestly thought the remake was a slightly better film than this one. Part of the reason I think it worked better is that not only did it have all the heart and charm of this picture, but it also had a comedy actor (Chris Rock) in the main role and this made the remake a funnier film in my book. Beatty is not a naturally comedic actor and it does show here.
Still Heaven Can Wait is worth seeing as there's a nice story here and it's told with a degree of charm, warmth and likeability. To me though it lacks a bit in the way of humour and in a film that bills itself as a comedy that is a slight drawback.