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Film Review - Heaven Can Wait

By a strange coincidence, I manage to watch the same movie twice in the same month. Well, not really the same movie. I should say the same story.

First, I watched Here Comes Mr. Jordan because I wanted to watch a Claude Rains film. I really liked the film, and then a couple films later Heaven Can Wait was on top of my stack of films to watch.

Hey, I've seen this. Really this is almost the same movie, but in color. Well, yes and no. In Here Comes Mr. Jordan Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains) had all the charm. In this film Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty) has got it. other than that it's the same story with little change.

Joe is a football player this time. He gets hit by a truck and an angel removes his soul too soon. Mr. Jordan is played by James Mason, who isn't Claude Rains, but still pulls it off. The woman is Julie Christie who isn't saving her father but rather her town. Maybe this is a little funnier, but otherwise, we have two identical films.

This isn't a bad thing. I know people who won't watch black and white film. I once dragged a person into a theatre to see Citizen Kane. This person wouldn't have seen it otherwise because it was black and white. So re-makes or really good films are not only an economic tradition in Hollywood, but a great way to get older, better written stories in front of new eyes.

Take your pick, old or new. They're both great!

No Suction!

Film Facts

Directed by
Warren Beatty
Buck Henry

Released in 1978

MPAA Rating: PG

Reviewed by Mongo