Just Like Heaven Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)September 14th, 2005
JUST LIKE HEAVEN
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
Wanting to be the next GHOST -- and succeeding handsomely -- JUST LIKE HEAVEN is sweetly funny and delightfully romantic. The script, by Peter Tolan (ANALYZE THIS) and Leslie Dixon (FREAKY FRIDAY), creates two completely believable characters, even if one of them is a spirit and the other one is the only one who can see her.
The almost always adorable Reese Witherspoon (LEGALLY BLONDE) plays Elizabeth Martinson, a woman run over by a truck within the first five minutes of the movie. Mark Ruffalo (13 GOING ON 30) plays David Abbott, a depressed guy who has recently experienced a loss. He comes to rent Elizabeth's old apartment and gets the ghostly Elizabeth thrown in for no extra charge.
The unusual story kicks into gear when Elizabeth shows up to complain about David's slobbish habits and tries to get him to leave her apartment. Since she comes and goes without having to open doors, he turns to a guy named Darryl who works at a local bookstore which specializes in parapsychology. Jon Heder, the star of one of my least favorite movies, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, is remarkably funny and effective as the bizarre Darryl, whose vocabulary consists mainly of the word, "righteous."
The script has more depth, interest and surprises that you'd expect, even if it is ultimately predictable. The best part concerns Elizabeth's amnesia. Mark and Elizabeth go in search of who she was. She has no idea that she was a workaholic intern with zero social life before the truck cut her life short. Along the way, they get humorous clues which initially lead them to suspect, incorrectly, that she was a philandering slut.
This very entertaining film goes down easy, not demanding a lot from the viewers. Part of the ending, however, may make some liberals uneasy, but to discuss that would needlessly give away key twists, which I fear other reviewers will be giving away.
My wife and I, who were celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary when we saw the film, were both very pleased by everything about it from the acting to the script. We cared about these two characters and were glad to see them falling in love. JUST IN HEAVEN is a romantic comedy that's a good date movie for all ages, and it's quite funny too.
JUST LIKE HEAVEN runs a fast 1:39. It is rated PG-13 for "some sexual content" and would be acceptable for kids around 7 and up.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, September 16, 2005. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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