What It's About:
A remake of the 1941 classic black-and-white comedy Here Comes Mr. Jordan, this 1978 update features a wryly funny script by star Warren Beatty and writer Elaine May, adept and clever direction by Beatty and co-star Buck Henry, and a superb cast of comic and dramatic actors working in perfect rhythm. Beatty plays Joe Pendleton, an NFL quarterback with the LA Rams (before their move to and from St. Louis, so don't hold that against this movie!) who is taken from his body seconds before an accident would NOT have killed him. His body is cremated, so he is placed in the body of billionaire scumbag Leo Farnsworth, the target of an imminent murder at the hands of his wife (boozy, brilliant Dyan Cannon) and executive secretary (Charles Grodin, dryer than the driest martini and stealing every scene with his deadpan delivery).
Joe sets about getting Farnsworth's body in shape for an NFL tryout with the Rams (he purchases the team to make this happen, which still makes him orders of magnitude better as an owner than the current proprietor, ex-Missouri reptile P.Enos Kroenke), and in the process, uses his everyman common sense to try to do good with his company instead of maximize profits. His board and investors hate him, of course, but he does win the love of the radiant Julie Christie (Beatty's girlfriend at the time), an environmental activist. Can their love endure the test of multiple deaths and spiritual transfers? Is this a Valentine's movie?
Why It's Worth Watching:
One of the funniest movies ever made, each actor is at their zenith in terms of performance, humor, and personal appeal. Beatty has never been more handsome or charming; you really love Joe, and you want to see him achieve his dream of playing in the Super Bowl. The supporting cast is just as memorable, including James Mason as a heavenly administrator trying to make things correct and Jack Warden as Max Corkle, Joe's trainer and the only other human who knows that Leo is really Joe. Watching Dyan Cannon and Charles Grodin plan Farnsworth's murder is funnier than seeing Wile E. Coyote's plans to catch the Road Runner fall apart each time. The romance between Beatty and Christie is sweet and subtle, and you're rooting for them to be together as much as anything else that happens. This film carries with it a daffy sense of madcap, screwball comedy, but it's played straight and serious, and this juxtaposition is what makes Heaven Can Wait a masterpiece of humor and romance.
What's in it for Her:
Warren Beatty at the height of his looks, charm, and appeal; a romance based on the experience of someone exceeding your expectations and caring more for you than he does for himself; the hope that in spite of death or heavenly bureaucratic misadventure, love really does conquer all; HGTV levels of California mansion luxury for her to add to her Pinterest wish list.
What's in it for Him:
About a thousand laughs; an NFL plotline that entertains even though it stretches the limits of plausibility as much as an NFL officiating crew; entertaining the idea of taking over another man's identity (an extremely wealthy man) and the things you could do with it; the appeal of Julie Christie as Joe's paramour; the idea that even death cannot stop you from achieving your dreams and finding true love.
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