Movie Review: Just Like Heaven
Just poor Mark Ruffalo's luck. He finally finds a girl to fall for but she's not exactly "all there".
It's hard to synopsize this film without giving away too much but here are the basics. David (Mark Ruffalo) is a super depressed, sloppy dude. Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon) is a workaholic young doctor who doesn't have time for a life. While on the way to meet a mystery man on a blind date, she is hit by a car. But, that doesn't stop her spirit from bugging David who has moved into her apartment. She doesn't realize that she's kind of in between worlds and is walking through walls and scaring David to death! She gripes about his bad housekeeping and accuses him of breaking in.
Anxious to get rid of this "spirit", David tries to get her exorcised from the place with no luck. Finally the two get together to figure out what is going on, become attracted to each other and help comes from a wacky sort of super-Zen bookstore worker (played by Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder) who can tune in to Elizabeth's presence and tries to help the two to find out the truth about her situation.
Are these two fated to be together whether in this world or the next? Will Elizabeth pass over to the next life, come back to this one or stay between worlds?
On the surface, Just Like Heaven is a warm and fuzzy romantic comedy with some cute new twists. I love the little one at the end dealing with destiny which I won't reveal here. Mark and Reese are winning together and there are some very funny moments but at the core of this film is a really serious issue about living wills, decisions on turning off life support and the terrible sadness of losing a loved one. The tone or mood is uneven at best. Just when you think the film is going to get really serious, it switches gears to slapstick.
However, Reese is always charming enough to make us want to follow her anywhere and Ruffalo is just clueless and needy enough here to make us want to take him by the hand and tell him to get off his depressed duff and take a chance with a new love! Soooo, it's a nice little date film. Check it out.
For nice acting and a date film with a supernatural twist.. 3.5 out of 5 stars
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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.
