Review #5

JUST LIKE HEAVEN

Released: 2005
Director: Mark Waters
Starring: Reese Witherspoon & Mark Ruffalo

Grade: D
 

Have you ever found yourself watching a romantic comedy and thinking "This is great but it would be way better if it dealt more directly with the theme of death"? If so, Just Like Heaven might be the film for you. If instead you want your romantic comedies to have wit, humor, and—I don't know—romance, I would suggest you avoid this one at all costs.

The movie opens with Reese Witherspoon as our plucky heroine Elizabeth, an overworked doctor vying for an attending position and finishing up a 26-hour shift. We see her in action- fixing fractures, ordering x-rays, and dispensing her charming bedside manner. She seems competent, hardworking and successful, but it's pretty clear that something is wrong. How do we know something's wrong? Because just about every character she meets in the first fifteen minute manages to tell her so. Elizabeth is so dedicated to her job she doesn't have time to be social- she's just too busy saving people's lives. Clearly she's lost perspective on what's important. Things seem to be improving though, because she lands the attending position and heads off to the blind date her sister set up. Just when we think things couldn't get any better, she dies. Reese Witherspoon, America's sweetheart, Woods comma Elle herself, dies in a car crash. (Just for the record, I hardly think this counts as a spoiler since it pretty much kicks off the movie's plot.) 

What starts out as Grey's Anatomy turns into Ghost Whisperer. (Or maybe just that episode of Grey's where Meredith almost drowns and hangs out in that limbo world. Or that time when Denny came back as a ghost. Come to think of it, this movie is pretty much just Grey's Anatomy.) After the unexpected crash, we meet our generically-angst-ridden-male-protagonist, otherwise known as Mark Ruffalo. Mark (or David as he's know in this film) rents Elizabeth's old apartment and it's not long before he's visited by her ghost. There's a whole lot of time where we watch the two of them try to figure out what's going on, something that becomes increasingly annoying since most of the audience has probably already figured out that Elizabeth is a ghost.  I certainly could have done without the ghost-goes-to-grab-something-only-to-pass through-it gag the film reuses three or four times. After establishing that, yes, Elizabeth is in fact a friendly-ghost, the plot finally gets moving. Elizabeth can't remember anything about her former life, and since David's the only one who can see her, she enlists his help to solve the mystery of who she was and why she is such an "alive" spirit. (A detail that hints at one of the most obvious film twists of all time.)

It's pretty impressive that even with such a unique concept, this film manages to be so generic. It's like the filmmakers understood that witty banter is a thing most romantic comedies have, but they couldn't quite figure out how it works. Instead they just have the characters speak their lines quickly and loudly. The dialogue is so unnatural I began to wonder if the writer was a non-native English speaker. How else can you explain lines like, "Machines don't know everything." "Everything in my training tells me otherwise." Or the oh-so-natural-sounding "What a joy it must be to create a place like this." 

Reese is so listlessly phoning-in her performance that it's painful to watch. Mark makes the occasional effort and some of his physical comedy is almost enjoyable, but he's really only good compared to Reese's spiritless (pun intended) portrayal. The rest of the film's cast is made up of character actors you know by role rather than name, which allowed me to play the where-do-I-know-them-from game ("Hey, it's Napoleon Dynamite" "It's Keiko from Star Trek." "It's that slutty American girl from Love Actually!")  

Pretty much every female character is an unlikable stereotype. Reese is the overworked-career-woman who would be a lot happier if she just took her job less seriously. Her sister Amy is the overstressed-mom whose children have turned her into a raving lunatic who literally brandishes a knife. And David's downstairs neighbor is the oversexed-single-lady who attempts to seduce him by barging into his apartment and taking off all of her clothes.  To be honest though, the men don't come across much better. Mark Ruffalo's only defining characteristic is that he gets drunk often and is prone to fits of melancholy. His psychiatrist friend ("Hey it's that guy from that ABC Family show!") seems to have questionable morals as well. The film also insists on creating an entirely unnecessary villain in Elizabeth's professional rival. He reminds me of the kind of money-hungry baddies that used to be so popular in 80s movies (usually played by Bradley Whitford.) In one scene he chooses to ignore a hospital page in order to brag to his friend about a new car. I'm sure that greedy doctors do exist, but this man has dedicated his life to healing the sick and has put in enough time and effort to become an attending—he can't be all bad.

Beyond teaching us that partying is way more fulfilling than being a doctor (the happiest moment in Elizabeth's life was the night she blew off MCAT studying to drink margaritas with her sister), the film is plagued with weird tonal shifts. The first fifteen minutes are actually pretty enjoyable. There's some subtle comedy and Elizabeth feels like a real human being. After the accident, however, everything goes downhill. Elizabeth is suddenly a one-note shrew who is obsessed with keeping her apartment clean. (Wouldn't you think someone who works 26-hour shifts wouldn't have a lot of time for home decorating?) There's some painfully unfunny stoner-humor with Jon Heder as a dude who can "sense" the dead. But the movie also attempts to tug at the heartstrings with generic dialogue like "If you could ever really touch me, I might wake up from all of this" and vague references to fate. Coupled with the whole ghost thing, the film just feels way too convoluted. 

The worst crime the movie commits is not living up to its potential. There's nothing wrong with a romantic comedy based on fantasy rather than reality. I'm willing to accept Reese as a ghost so long as that device is used for a purpose. I'm a big fan of fantasy and sci-fi because by creating nonrealistic worlds, these genres are able to comment upon the human condition. Lord of the Rings may be about elves and hobbits and dragons, but it's also about the devastation of war and the bond of friendship. The aliens on Star Trek aren't just fantastical creatures; they reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the human race. Creating a romantic pairing between a ghost and a man torn apart by the death of his wife could have been a beautiful way to comment on the nature of loss, the pains of regret, and the difficulty of connecting after tragedy. Instead, the film insists on devoting most of its run time to solving the mystery of Elizabeth's incorporeal-condition. Which means there is a lot of following clues and visiting mystic bookstores and very little in the way of character development. Towards the end, the filmmakers seem to realize that they should actually start building a connection between their two leads. By then, however, it's too late. A well-written and well-delivered speech about Mark Ruffalo's departed wife is too little too late. 

Despite an exciting couple in its leading roles, Just Like Heaven is not funny, not smart, and not romantic. If you're looking for a compelling ghost story, I'd stick with Ghostbusters.

Reality factor: Pretty much every character is an overblown stereotype and there’s no chemistry between the two leads. Oh and there’s that whole ghost thing. [0 out of 5]

Eye-candy factor: Mark Ruffalo. In a towel. [4 out of 5]

Aww factor: Alright, the part where he made her the garden did make me smile.  

[2 out of 5]