Heaven Can Wait

Heaven does wait...
Recently I watched the new DVD release of a classic favorite Heaven Can Wait. Twenty-three years after it's screen release, the delightful Warren Beatty film still has the power to enchant and make me smile.

Beatty is superb. Julie Christie is wonderful. Dyan Cannon hasn't changed at all through the years and is as beautiful now as she was then. The entire cast brings the story of a brand new angel who wanted to "save" Joe from so much pain at his death that he brought him out of his body early. Yes, the angel killed him. This angel's first assignment shows the mistakes any beginner can make, of course the ramifications are larger. Joe would not have been between the crashing cars.

Joe refuses to go to heaven; he wants to be returned to his body -- but it has been cremated. Reviewing many body-replacement opportunities (of those who died, but the death was undiscovered) he ultimately sees Farnsworth. He wasn't that interested in being an out-of shape murder...

"How you doin?"
Great movie, poor treatment by Paramount.

Beatty plays Ram's quarterback Joe Pendleton, recovering from a knee injury as he works his way back into a fight for the starting job, then unfortunately rides his bike into a tunnel but doesn't ride out the other end. We soon find out that he was destined to survive the accident, but was "taken out" by practicing angelic entity played by Buck Henry before the laws of probability and outcome could determine Joe's fate. An appeal is issued to management in the form of the magnificent James Mason as Mr.Jordon, who is left with the task of finding Joe a suitable body to make his return to earth in after we find that Joe's body was cremated before we could work out all the red tape at Heaven's departure terminal.

In the very small "What If You Died and Came Back" genre this is hands-down the best of the bunch. Beatty gets credit for bulking up for the role and amazingly has no credibility issues with the casual audience as...

Second chances can be dangerous.
Do you ever feel guilty for enjoying a film? Perhaps you're just a little reluctant to admit you like it... Okay, I admit it I like "Heaven Can Wait". And this, despite the fact that it stars Warren Beatty who's performances usually make me want to weep, even in comedies. All I can say is that he really shines in this film. Mind you, he is helped tremendously by the supporting cast.

I was particularly taken with Julie Christie in the role of Betty Logan, a passionate environmentalist who has taken on a mission to stop industrialist Leo Farnsworth, (Beatty), from destroying a small community in England. Little does she know that Farnsworth died a short time before she met him. Leo's earthly role had been assumed by an unlucky footballer by the name of Joe Pendleton, snatched from life by an overzealous angel during a road accident.

If any of this sounds familiar, you may be remembering the original use of the story in the 1941 film, "Here...

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