Movies - Just Like Heaven

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	Movies - Just Like Heaven

Just Like Heaven is a romantic comedy film released on September 16, 2005, in the U.S. and Canada. Set in San Francisco, it stars Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, and Jon Heder (in his first film appearance following Napoleon Dynamite
). It reached #1 in the United States box office. It is based on the book If Only It Were True (Et si c'était vrai...) by Marc Levy.

Tagline: It's a wonderful afterlife.

Plot

Elizabeth Masterson (Witherspoon) is a young workaholic doctor whose work is her whole life, until she is involved in a car accident. Three months later, David Abbott (Ruffalo), a loner recovering from the death of his wife, moves into her apartment.

There a young woman appears who, although seemingly a normal person, has ghostly properties and capabilities: she can suddenly appear and disappear and move through walls. When they meet, not only David is surprised, but Elizabeth too, she is not aware yet of her condition.

They can see and hear each other, but most other people cannot, leading to other people believing that David is hallucinating and talking to himself. However, as turns out later, one of Elizabeth's young nieces can also see her.

At first Elizabeth does not remember anything of her life, and she refuses to believe that she is dead. Later, memories come back gradually. Together they find out who she is, what happened to her, and what the connection is between her and David. Assisting David and Elizabeth in her journey is a Zen-like psychic (Jon Heder).

It turns out that her body is in the hospital in a coma. In accordance with her living will, she will soon be taken off life support. Elizabeth's spirit and David, who have fallen in love, manage to prevent this just in time, and she miraculously recovers.

Controversy in the United States

The film features a plot point dealing with taking a character off of life support. Some people found this inappropriate for a comedic movie because it was released only six months after the death of Terri Schiavo which sparked a national debate about euthanasia. Whatever the filmmakers' intentions, the movie became a favorite of the religious right.

DVD release date

2006-02-07

Critical Reaction

The film, though popular, was somewhat overshadowed by Witherspoon's more high-profile and almost simultaneously released blockbuster Walk the Line
. Critics were mixed on the film, although the most prominent of them, such as Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper, and A.O. Scott gave it favorable reviews. They all seemed to agree 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. Heder's appearance helped to debunk an urban rumor that the actor had died shortly after filming Napoleon Dynamite. The DVD release in February 2006 was given unusually strong promotional publicity.

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Movies - Just Like Heaven

Plot

Controversy in the United States

DVD release date

Critical Reaction

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