Heaven Can Wait

1978

1h 41m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

433

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Fantasy

Comedy

Romance

Joe Pendleton is a quarterback preparing to lead his team to the superbowl when he is almost killed in an accident. An overanxious angel plucks him to heaven only to discover that he wasn't ready to die, and that his body has been cremated. A new body must be found, and that of a recently-murdered millionaire is chosen. His wife and accountant—the murderers—are confused by this development, as he buys the L.A. Rams in order to once again quarterback them into the Superbowl.

Directors

Warren Beatty

Buck Henry

Writers

Elaine May(screenplay by)

Warren Beatty(screenplay by)

Harry Segall(theatre play by)

Stars

Warren Beatty

Julie Christie

James Mason

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Videos2

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Featurette
Watch Warren Beatty on 'Heaven Can Wait' and Why He Gave Up Playing Football | TCMFF 2022

Photos100

Top cast

Joe Pendleton

Betty Logan

Mr. Jordan

Max Corkle

Tony Abbott

Julia Farnsworth

The Escort

Krim

Sisk

Bentley

Everett

Corinne

Lavinia

Gardener

Security Guard

Peters

Conway

Tomarken

Directors

Warren Beatty

Buck Henry

Writers

Elaine May(screenplay by)

Warren Beatty(screenplay by)

Harry Segall(theatre play by)

All cast & crew

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Featured review

6/10

Maybe Warren Beatty was also a fan of Powell & Pressburger as this has shades of "Matter of Life and Death" (1946) to it. Rather than a fighter pilot though, it's quarter-back "Joe" (Beatty) who is erroneously selected to take the Concorde to heaven. He protests to supremo "Jordan" (James Mason) who discovers that his new charge is still supposed to have another fifty-odd years with his mortal coil. OK, let's just put him back. Ah, well no - he has already been cremated. That's just one jigsaw puzzle too much, even for the celestial. "Jordan" decides that he can borrow the body of someone next in the queue, and he settles on millionaire industrialist "Farnsworth". This man has more enemies that he'd care to count, not least his scheming wife (Dyan Cannon) and the pesky British campaigner "Betty" (Julie Christie) who is adamant that her local village isn't going to be demolished to make way for an oil refinery. Now safely ensconced his new body, he only has thoughts of going back to playing ball - only now he can afford to actually buy a team. Re-uniting with coach "Max" (Jack Warden) whom he manages to convince of his true identity, we now embark on a gentle comedy that extols the virtues of team building and environmentally aware business practice. Cannon steals this as the plotting spouse, but Mason doesn't really make much impact and otherwise it's all just a rather blandly predictable offering that has it's moments but just not enough of them. Watchable, though, on a wet afternoon if it's on the telly.

Geronimo196723 Nov, 2024