Movie Review - Heaven Can Wait

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Starring Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, James Mason, Charles Grodin, and Dyan Cannon

Directed by Warren Beatty and Buck Henry

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

This is just one of those random movies that's been on the "maybe I'll watch that someday" list and that day has come.  Warren Beatty is pro football quarterback Joe Pendleton who is poised to take his team to the Super Bowl.  Unfortunately, a car accident brings Joe into the afterlife.  However, in the limbo between heaven and earth, Joe discovers that his guardian angel pulled him out of his body too quickly -- Joe simply wasn't scheduled to die yet.  So, it is decided that Joe can return to earth in the body of someone else.  This someone else just happens to be rich multi-millionaire Leo Farnsworth who is in a bit of trouble of his own involving both his wife (Dyan Cannon) and his executive secretary (Charles Grodin) attempting to kill him in order to carry out their torrid affair and an angry British woman (Julie Christie) who is upset that Farnsworth is building an oil refinery in her town.  All the while, Joe longs to be the football quarterback he was in his former body.

An odd summary, I realize, but the movie's odd, too.  There's a lot of everything thrown in here -- comedy, drama, romance -- and the jumbled summary is indicative of a movie that doesn't quite know what it wants to be.  None of the aforementioned elements really takes precedence over any other so you never get a great idea of the tone that co-director-co-screenwriter Beatty was going for.  Things aren't properly balanced and it hurts the movie to a certain extent.

I like Warren Beatty as an actor and I like him here as well.  He's certainly charming and has a nice presence onscreen. Aiding him is Charles Grodin and Dyan Cannon as the conniving couple attempting to kill off Leo Farnsworth in order to gain access to his fortune.  Unfortunately, the biggest letdown in the film is Julie Christie whose romantic subplot with Beatty's Farnsworth is absolutely ridiculous and has no reason for even existing.  It's a subplot that is completely unnecessary and weighs the movie down.

The RyMickey Rating:  C