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Joe Pendleton
(Warren Beatty) has worked hard to rehab his knee so that
he has a chance to play quarterback for the Rams. He has made
so much progress that the coach plans to start him over current
starter Tom Jarret. Max (Jack Warden), the team's trainer
and a close friend of Joe, is the person who breaks the good
news to him. Joe continues training, and while bicycling through
a tunnel he is struck by a car. The film then drastically
changes settings, as we are shown a heaven-like (purgatory?)
place where Joe is being instructed to find his place in line
by an annoying little man (Buck Henry). Joe refuses, and the
annoying little man asks Mr. Jordan (James Mason) for help.
Mr. Jordan is puzzled by Joe's behavior, so he asks for the
date of Joe's "scheduled" death. It turns out that Joe is
not supposed to die until he is much older. The annoying little
man made a mistake and took Joe prematurely. So now Mr. Jordan
has to put Joe back, but his physical body is no more, so
he has to find another host for Joe. Joe is picky about whose
body he is going to take over, as he still hopes to make it
back to the Rams. Eventually he settles on Leo Farnsworth,
a rich man who is about to die after his wife (Dyan Cannon)
and servant (Charles Grodin) tried to murder him. Making matters
better is the appearance of Betty (Julie Christie), who has
come to Farnsworth's mansion to complain about his business
practices. Joe/Leo is instantly infatuated with Betty, and
he soon begins to make some big changes in the way Farnsworth
is running his life.
My jaw dropped
when I read the listing of Academy Award nominations for this
film. First of all, and this is not much of a revelation,
Warren Beatty is not a great actor. As a writer, he tailors
starring roles for himself. If he did have more talent in
this area I am sure he would have done more acting work in
other people's films. But his performance in Heaven Can Wait
impressed enough of the dimwitted troglodytes among the voters
to garner a nomination. Dyan Cannon's nomination as best supporting
actress might be the worst nomination in the Academy's seven
decades of shoddy nominations. They might as well have nominated
her for her work in Caddyshack II. Jack Warden was much better
in Used Cars, but lowbrow comedies are generally ignored by
the Academy.
The romance
angle between Beatty and Christie is typical Hollywood schlock.
Guy sees girl, guy falls in love with girl at first site,
girl disgusted with guy, guy tries to impress girl, and girl
begins to change her attitude towards guy. Very by the book,
making it the least interesting aspect of the film.
While Heaven
Can Wait is not a great film, its charm and fluidity make
the film a partial success. This charm is reminiscent of a
1940s film, which is not surprising considering Heaven Can
Wait is a remake of 1941's Here Comes Mr. Jordan. It is not
a shot for shot remake like Psycho (1998), but it is basically
a carbon copy of Here Comes Mr. Jordan, except for minor differences
like how he dies and the sport that he plays. Like Psycho
(1998), I wonder if the differences between the earlier film
and the later film really warranted a remake. Considering
the talent involved with this remake, it really should have
been a much better film. Heaven Can Wait (1978) should not
be confused with Heaven Can Wait (1943), the Ernst Lubitsch
classic. Maybe this title pilfering portends such titles as
Citizen Kane (2003), Birth of a Nation (2014), and 1984 (2021).
I cannot wait until Heaven Can Wait (1943) is remade, so we
can really be confused!
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
While they
might be a faded in other areas, colors such as the yellow
and blue on the Rams' football helmet and the green grass
and shrubbery are very pleasing with little indication of
fading. Detail and black level are generally also fine. There
are some small scratches and other blemishes visible at various
points in the film, as this twenty-year old film looks its
age, even with 16x9 enhancement. Some of the scenes have a
drab appearance, probably caused by mediocre film elements.
The foggy "heaven" setting is one such example, and it is
hard to judge such a scene without knowing how this film looked
when it was originally released to theaters. Some digital
edge artifacts are evident, and fleshtones are inconsistent.
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
Evidently
the sound is adequate on this dvd, because upon finishing
the film I could remember nothing notable about it, good or
bad. The mono soundtrack provides little in the way of dynamic
range, but the dialogue is quite clear and free from hiss
and other annoyances. This is the kind of soundtrack that
will not sound much different whether you listen to it on
your television speakers or your giant home theater speakers
connected to your $1,000 receiver.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There? In keeping
with the treatment accorded to nearly all their DVDs, Paramount
has only included a trailer, which in this case is letterboxed
but in poor condition otherwise. With Beatty's reputation
as a reclusive artist, I really did not expect a commentary
track or any other type of extra. The much hoped for commentary
track where Charles Grodin chimes in for an hour long rant
concerning an indecipherable subject and Dyan Cannon discusses
her "brilliant" performance in the film and the
Lakers' chances next year was unfortunately missing.
Parting Thoughts
Paramount
has again provided a anamorphic transfer of an older film,
but with less thrilling results this time around. And Paramount
has again provided little in the way of bonus material. But
Warren Beatty fans will still probably be attracted to this
dvd. Others should rent this one before buying.
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