Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Director: Mark Waters
Actors: Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo
Yet another Rom-Com. But
out of thousands of Rom-Coms (most of which are just average) ever produced by
Hollywood, this one definitely deserves its own foothold. When I saw the
actors, I gotta feeling that this was gonna be a tender, sweet romance. Reese
Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo are both adored by their genuine acting with no
trace of overdoing.
In terms of plot, this
film is just a familiar story about a spirit roaming on Earth or in other words,
getting stuck between earth and sky [1].This
spirit is a young single workaholic. Elizabeth had worked like 26 hours
back-to-back at the hospital just before an accident on her drive home that put her in a coma. Her
spirit was separated from her body and totally unaware of the person she used
to be. She kept living in her now-for-rent apartment until David,
a landscape architect appeared. He was somehow among very few that could see
her. They had sometime fighting over the ownership of the apartment, but then sat
back together and tried to recover her memory. In a very natural way, that
single lady and that widower fell in love. Of course, there was something
happening along the way that challenged them but without fail, they overcame
it with a touch of magic that we often see in fairy tales.
What I love about this
movie is its pure love with no need to cram some kind of sexuality to attract viewers. It offers both entertaining sights and moving scenes –
a pleasure to watch. In this film, comedy and romance are perfectly blended. The
film needs not to bring on obscene language or over-ridiculousness to get us to
laugh, nor does it make people feel like they are watching a cheesy chick
flick. And don’t we forget to mention the fantasy elements: from the movie title
“Just Like Heaven”, the stunning garden to the miraculous way Elizabeth was
brought back to life. There was a little surprise at the end when Elizabeth revived but
forgot all her time with David. At that point, my heart sank a little bit but
you know, Mark Ruffalo always plays such a nice guy that no one wants to see him
end up being alone.
(Just to my own liking) Allow me to cite this line from the
movie (Elizabeth to David): “You are not dumb, David, just a little crazy.
Cute. Lazy”.
As an inevitable happy
ending for a Rom-Com, Elizabeth remembered everything and the lovely couple was back together after all.
Talking about supporting
roles, I must say I love them all, from sister Abby, her ex-boyfriend JJ to the
freaky man from the bookshop, Darryl [2]. Every
of them fits in the flow of the film and brings us some very funny pleasant
moments.
As a closing, I highly
recommend this film to those who enjoy romance. Soon enough, you will find
yourself landing from heaven after finishing this film ;)