Just like Heaven (2005 film): Difference between revisions
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'''''Just Like Heaven''''' is a 2005 American [[romantic comedy]] [[fantasy film]] directed by [[Mark Waters (director)|Mark Waters]], starring [[Reese Witherspoon]], [[Mark Ruffalo]], and [[Jon Heder]]. It is based on the 1999 French novel ''[[If Only It Were True]]'' (''Et si c'était vrai...'') by [[Marc Levy]]. |
'''''Just Like Heaven''''' is a 2005 American [[romantic comedy]] [[fantasy]]-[[adventure film]] directed by [[Mark Waters (director)|Mark Waters]], starring [[Reese Witherspoon]], [[Mark Ruffalo]], and [[Jon Heder]]. It is based on the 1999 French novel ''[[If Only It Were True]]'' (''Et si c'était vrai...'') by [[Marc Levy]]. |
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[[Steven Spielberg]] obtained the rights to produce the film from the book.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/386887.If_Only_It_Were_True | title = If Only It Were True (Et si c'était vrai #1) | publisher = Goodreads Inc.}}</ref> The film was released in the United States and Canada on September 16, 2005. |
[[Steven Spielberg]] obtained the rights to produce the film from the book.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/386887.If_Only_It_Were_True | title = If Only It Were True (Et si c'était vrai #1) | publisher = Goodreads Inc.}}</ref> The film was released in the United States and Canada on September 16, 2005. |
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[[Category:2000s romantic fantasy films]] |
[[Category:2000s romantic fantasy films]] |
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[[Category:2005 films]] |
[[Category:2005 films]] |
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[[Category:Amblin Entertainment films]] |
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[[Category:American fantasy-comedy films]] |
[[Category:American fantasy-comedy films]] |
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[[Category:American ghost films]] |
[[Category:American ghost films]] |
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Revision as of 17:20, 8 July 2022
| Just Like Heaven | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mark Waters |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on | If Only It Were True by Marc Levy |
| Produced by | Walter F. Parkes Laurie MacDonald |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Daryn Okada |
| Edited by | Bruce Green |
| Music by | Rolfe Kent |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | DreamWorks Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $58 million |
| Box office | $102.8 million[1] |
Just Like Heaven is a 2005 American romantic comedy fantasy-adventure film directed by Mark Waters, starring Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, and Jon Heder. It is based on the 1999 French novel If Only It Were True (Et si c'était vrai...) by Marc Levy.
Steven Spielberg obtained the rights to produce the film from the book.[2] The film was released in the United States and Canada on September 16, 2005.
Plot
Elizabeth Masterson (Reese Witherspoon), a young emergency medicine physician in San Francisco whose work is her whole life, is in a serious car accident while on her way to a blind date at her sister's dinner party. Three months later, David Abbott (Mark Ruffalo), a landscape architect needing a fresh start from an event he doesn't want to talk about, moves into the apartment that had been Elizabeth's, after 'discovering' it in what seems to be a fateful happenstance.
Elizabeth begins to appear to David in the apartment, and both are confused. Elizabeth thinks he's a squatter, and David thinks she broke in somehow. However, it becomes clear that Elizabeth isn't really alive. She can suddenly appear and disappear, walk or move through walls and objects. Elizabeth doesn't seem to remember anything about herself, and refuses to think she's dead. David tries to have her spirit exorcised from the apartment, but to no avail. David enlists the help of a psychic bookstore clerk, Darryl (Jon Heder), who tells him that Elizabeth isn't really dead. He tells David that it's clear he's got a blocked heart, and he needs to let go of the woman who was previously in his life. Elizabeth says David needs to get over being dumped. David storms out, and then Darryl tells Elizabeth not to disrespect the dead. Elizabeth finds David and he reveals that his wife Laura had died.
Since only David can see and hear her, others think that he is hallucinating, getting back into his alcoholism, and talking to himself. Elizabeth asks David to help her looks for clues around Elizabeth's apartment to try to find out who she is and what happened to her. David talks to people in the building who didn't know much about Elizabeth. As they walked into a restaurant she said she liked, a man has a medical emergency, and Elizabeth talks David through saving his life. She remembers she was a doctor, and they go to the nearest hospital, where Elizabeth remembers her life as a doctor, and her mentor Fran tells David that Elizabeth has been in an accident. Elizabeth finds her body in a room, where she's been in a coma for three months. When David touches the body's hand, Elizabeth feels it, so she knows she's still connected to her body, and not all hope is lost.
Elizabeth's sister Abby arrives, and the attending doctor notifies her that Elizabeth signed papers to not take extraordinary measures to save her life, but since she was a doctor at that hospital, they've treated her as a special case. However, the doctor asks Abby to consider taking her off life support, and she says she'll think about it.
David and Elizabeth begin to bond, and he tells her about his wife's death. He takes Elizabeth out of town to a beautiful landscaped garden he designed. Elizabeth tells him she senses she has been there before, and in fact, the garden was something she was dreaming of in the opening scenes of the film, where she was awakened by a colleague from cat-napping after working a 26-hour shift in the hospital.
David's real estate broker calls him to say the owners have offered him a long lease on the apartment, likely meaning that Abby has signed the papers to let Elizabeth die. David tries to prevent this going to Abby's house with the intention of telling her that Elizabeth is communicating with him, and plans to reveal bits of information about Abby that only Elizabeth knows. While there, Elizabeth's niece Lily is shown to be able to sense her, as she puts a cookie on the plate before her. David tells Abby he was a patient of Elizabeth's and begs Abby to keep her alive, but Abby says it's too late, she's already signed the papers and Elizabeth will be taken off life support the next day. In a last ditch effort to save Elizabeth, David blurts out something Abby did on her wedding day, and Abby freaks out, threatening him with a knife and driving him out of her house.
David offers Elizabeth the opportunity to do anything she wants for her last night alive, but she wants to spend it with him in their apartment. David wakes up the next morning and decides to prevent Elizabeth's death by stealing her body from the hospital. He asks his friend/therapist Jack (Donal Logue) to help him, and Jack is found to be Abby's former college boyfriend who had set up a blind date for David with Elizabeth on the night of the accident - the reason David can see Elizabeth is that they were meant to meet. He then admits to Jack and Elizabeth that he loves her and that is the reason he doesn't want her to die; he has gotten past the death of his wife.
They are quickly discovered in the hospital while trying to steal Elizabeth's body. The security guards find them, and when they pull Jack away from Elizabeth, her breathing tube comes off. The guards encircle David and Elizabeth, but she is now dying. David frantically kisses the dying Elizabeth, breathing some air into her lungs, while her spirit begins to fade away. Then, amazingly, her heartbeat returns and she miraculously awakens from the coma. However, while Elizabeth recognizes Abby, she doesn't recognize David, and he sadly leaves the hospital.
Sometime later, Elizabeth moves back into her apartment. She is drawn up to the roof of the building, where she finds David, who has transformed the roof into a beautiful landscaped garden. David reveals he'd gotten in using the spare key her spirit had shown him. Just as he is about to leave, she asks for her key back. When their hands touch, her memory of the events during her coma are restored, and she kisses him happily.
The final scene fades away from the rooftop to show Darryl staring into a snow globe.
Cast
- Reese Witherspoon as Dr. Elizabeth Masterson
- Mark Ruffalo as David Abbott
- Ivana Miličević as Katrina
- Jon Heder as Darryl
- Donal Logue as Jack
- Dina Waters as Abby Brody
- Rosalind Chao as Dr. Fran Lo
- Ben Shenkman as Dr. Brett Rushton
- Joel McKinnon Miller as Lead Ghostbuster
- Caroline Aaron as Grace
- Kerris Dorsey as Zoe Brody
- Alyssa Shafer as Lily Brody
- Willie Garson as Maitre D'
Critical reception
The film holds a 55% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 150 reviews, with an average rating of 5.62/10. The consensus reads, "Delightfully sweet like a lollipop, Just Like Heaven is a dreamy romantic comedy that may give you a toothache when it attempts to broach difficult end of life issues by throwing a cherry on top."[3] However, many prominent critics such as Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper, and A. O. Scott gave it favorable reviews;[3] they all agreed that the plot had logical flaws that were somewhat overcome by good dialogue and characterization.
The performances of Witherspoon, Ruffalo, and Heder were all generally well received.
The DVD release in February 2006 was given unusually strong promotional publicity.[citation needed]
Theme song
The title of this film is also that of a popular 1987 song, "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure. Singer Katie Melua recorded a cover version of the song for the soundtrack of the film. Melua's version is played over the opening titles, and has lines such as "she said" changed to "he said" to maintain a heterosexual narrative. The original version by The Cure, as well as the remainder of Melua's version, are played over the closing credits.
The orchestral score was written by Rolfe Kent, and orchestrated by Tony Blondal.
Soundtrack
See also
- Always (1989 film)
- Endukante... Premanta!
- Ghost (1990 film)
- Ghost Town
- Soulmates
- Vismayathumbathu (2004)
References
- ^ "Just Like Heaven (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
- ^ "If Only It Were True (Et si c'était vrai #1)". Goodreads Inc.
- ^ a b "Just Like Heaven (2005)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
External links
- 2005 films
- 2000s fantasy-comedy films
- 2000s ghost films
- 2005 romantic comedy films
- 2000s romantic fantasy films
- Amblin Entertainment films
- American fantasy-comedy films
- American ghost films
- American romantic comedy films
- American romantic fantasy films
- DreamWorks Pictures films
- English-language films
- Films about death
- Films based on fantasy novels
- Films based on French novels
- Films based on romance novels
- Films directed by Mark Waters
- Films set in San Francisco
- Films shot in San Francisco
- Films set in hospitals
- Films with screenplays by Leslie Dixon
- Films with screenplays by Peter Tolan
- Films scored by Rolfe Kent
- Films produced by Walter F. Parkes