It's been so long since I've done a movie review, y'all probably forgot that it used to be a regular feature here. :-) I'm hoping to get back on track now that baseball season is over. Just a warning, since this movie is from 2005 there might be spoilers. If you don't want to know what happens, stop reading here.
This week's movie is Just Like Heaven starring Reese Witherspoon as Doctor Elizabeth Masterson and Mark Ruffalo as David Abbott.
Elizabeth is a doctor/workaholic who's putting in 24 hour days in the Emergency Room. She really does care about the people she's treating, though. Her older married sister has set her up on a blind date, and because of a patient, Elizabeth is running late. It's okay, though, because the guy she's been set up with hasn't shown either. On the way over to the house, her car is hit by a truck.
David is looking for a furnished apartment in San Francisco, but his real estate agent is taking him to these bizarre places that he can't stand. A piece of paper with the information on a unit that's open to be sublet literally hits him in the face. He loves the view and the furniture and agrees to the month to month arrangement. What he's doing to earn money is anyone's guess since all he seems to do is drink beer and lie around. Then Elizabeth shows up and wants to know what he's doing in her apartment. When he insists he lives there, she goes to call the police--and disappears into thin air.
As it turns out, David is the only one who can see Elizabeth, and since she has no memory, she wants him to help her figure out who she is and what's going on.
The movie is a comedy and a romance. There were actually a fair amount of funny moments, but the romance between Elizabeth and David was rather weak and happened pretty quickly. I totally guessed what the deal was with Elizabeth, but I'm not sure it really mattered since the film isn't trying to be The Sixth Sense, which is a good thing since I guessed all the secrets pretty early.
The casting was believable, but there wasn't much depth to the secondary characters. And I thought the ending was okay, but I would have liked more. There is an alternative ending on the DVD Extras and I loathed it--I'm definitely glad they went with the one they did over that one.
Overall, it wasn't a horrible way to spend a couple of hours.
My rating: 3.25 stars out of 5
