Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 1-February-04
Spoiler Rating: High

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

It pains me to say it, but I have a feeling that if I discovered Heaven Can Wait only this year, I would write it off, on the whole, as too discomfiting and absurd. It pains me because I have cherished a fondness for this metaphysical little fairy tale ever since it came out in 1978. O, Time, the subtle thief of youth! Would that I were less critical, less cynical, and less quick to cry foul, so that I could appreciate the undeniable charms of this film as I once did.

Co-produced, co-written, and co-directed by Warren Beatty, Heaven Can Wait is a loose remake of a 1941 film titled "Here Comes Mr. Jordan." It concerns the strange destiny of Joe Pendleton (Beatty), a professional football player who is mistakenly snatched from earth and sent on his way to heaven. The angels in charge (James Mason and Buck Henry, the other director) agree to correct the mistake by putting Joe back in his body, but it is unfortunately cremated before they get the chance. Their only option is to give him a temporary body while they look for a suitable replacement, i.e., an athletic American man about to die who can fulfill Joe's dream of playing in the Superbowl. (No doubt there are always plenty of those lying about.)

The interim body in which Joe bides his time belonged to a ruthless billionaire named Leo Farnsworth, whose wife (Dyan Cannon) and secretary (Charles Grodin) poisoned him in the bathtub. After his resurrection, he shocks his colleagues by repudiating greed and startles his household by indulging in liver-and-whey shakes and chats with invisible associates. In fact, Farnsworth's sudden good nature and strange behavior disturb everyone except Betty Logan (Julie Christie), a British schoolteacher who travels to LA to petition Farnsworth against building a factory in her town. Of course, Betty needs but one look in Farnsworth's eyes to see Joe hiding behind them, and her heart responds accordingly. Matters become a little sticky after Joe's time in Farnsworth's body expires just as his dreams are coming true, but by a stroke of luck that can only be described as a miracle, it all works out in the end. (Well, it does if you buy into the immutability of souls and accept that Betty will go for anyone in pants who stares at her enigmatically.)

Despite its forced situations and curious view of spirituality, Heaven Can Wait contains a sweetness and humor that no amount of cynicism can dispel. Beatty has the actors to thank for that, starting with himself; his Joe is a supremely likable simpleton (like a Golden Retriever in sweatpants), and Grodin, as always, delivers laughs simply by appearing on the scene. (Few men possess the comic power to elevate Cannon's ditzy bitch act to the plane of the amusing.) Even some of the minor characters make a good impression, such as Joseph Maher as Farnsworth's butler. But the most memorable role in the film belongs to Jack Warden, who plays Joe's coach and friend Max Corkle. His touching and bittersweet scenes with Beatty at the middle and end of the picture acknowledge the inescapable loss involved with death, which provides a welcome contrast to the overall levity of the tale.

Indeed, Heaven Can Wait uses some pretty heavy themes in the service of comedy, and sometimes the combination doesn't sit well. Yet if one can simply absorb the story without thinking about it too much, the appeal of the actors works its magic, making the premise droll, the punchlines funny, and the ending as happy as can be expected for a man who (nearly) meets his maker before his time is up.

Copyright © 2004 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.