Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo
Director: Mark Waters
Genre: Romantic comedy
Storyline: A landscape architect moves into a new apartment haunted by a spirit of a pretty workaholic doctor and before they know it, they are in love.
Bottomline: Well-written chick flick.
Just Like Heaven is a very pleasant surprise.
Despite its obviously fairytale premise of a workaholic doctor driving into a truck after a 26-hour shift coming back from the dead to find a new occupant in her apartment, it is neatly-written romantic comedy, with a few good lines here and fun moments throughout.
The greater your suspension of disbelief, the greater you will enjoy this movie.
Reese Witherspoon is Elizabeth, who is in so much love with her job, that’s she’s not really had a serious relationship. Just the evening she’s supposed to be set up with a guy, she meets with an accident.
As she goes home to find David (Mark Ruffalo), an alcoholic inhabitant who turns her neat apartment into a mess, she cannot figure out if he’s a homeless intruder or why she can’t remember who she is. Together, they try to find out all about her life and what happened to her after it.
And like it happens it all romantic comedies, they fall in love.
What makes ‘Just Like Heaven’ worth watching are the performances by the lead pair and the way they make the most corniest of lines sound absolutely convincing.
The scenes where David talks to Elizabeth in public spaces, when only he can see her, evoke a few laughs as Mark Ruffalo steals the scenes away from the talented talkative young actress.
Like most romantic comedies, the guy is always this most charming, eligible, funny, caring and sensitive man and the girl is this pretty, talkative blonde who can be moony-eyed, waiting for her love. But, that does not stop you from not enjoying the movie.
There’s also Donal Logue, who plays David’s shrink and friend, with some genuinely funny lines in the movie, especially around the climax.
Screenwriters Peter Tolan and Leslie Dixon deserve mention for equipping the characters with lines that are the right mix of restraint and romance.
It might never be in the league of ‘Notting Hill’ or remembered long after, but ‘Just Like Heaven’ is certainly worth your time when you are in the hall. Perfect for the date.
MADRAS INK. 