Eternity

The best afterlife comedy since "Heaven Can Wait", ETERNITY is a laugh-out-loud romance with heart, soul and wit to spare.

The film opens with senior citizen couple Joan (Betty Buckley) and Larry (Barry Primus) driving to a gender reveal party for their new grandchild. Buckley and Primus are old pros, delivering every bit of comedy with panache as traffic backs up a mile behind them.

When Larry dies suddenly at the party, he wakes up on a train, in his much younger body, now played by Miles Teller (The Offer, Top Gun: Maverick).

The train pulls into a massive station that serves up a trade show like atmosphere offering up every kind of eternity you can imagine.

Writer/Director David Freyne delivers a lot of laughs in this sequence, as each booth offers a sales person pushing that version of your forever. I loved the twisted humor and even as the film moves on, sharp eyed viewers can see plenty of other options in the background. The "Man Free World" is constantly sold out, which made us both LOL every time.

The biggest laughs of the film are courtesy of the devine Da'Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) as Anna, a spiritual tour guide and AC (Afterlife Coordinator) who arrives to coach Larry on his options. Like Buck Henry in "Heaven Can Wait" she faces off with a new arrival that has no intention of moving on.

Larry knows that his aging bride won't be long behind him and decides to hang out and wait for her, drinking in a quiet cocktail lounge with bartender Luke (Callum Turner) who's also been there a very long time waiting for the love of his life. He's been waiting over 60 years as a matter of fact....

Soon enough, Joan does arrive, now embodied in the form of Elizabeth Olsen (Wind River, The Avengers). She's excited to see Larry, her husband of many decades. There's only one problem.

Luke has been waiting decades for Joan's arrival too. He was her first husband before dying in the war (and not one of the big wars, as Larry loves to point out).

It's an impossible choice and a heartfelt dilemma that Freyne crafts to serve up as much heart and it does humor. But for the first hour plus, big laughs!

How Anna and the guide team decide to handle the problem, the opportunity it gives both Larry and Luke, is perfectly crafted.

Randolph is flat out brilliant in every scene, almost stealing the movie and walking away with it, but the lead trio is also perfectly cast. Randolph's swooning over everything that Luke says and her pity for Larry's inability to compete is a highlight.

Teller delivers as a grumpy old man stuck in a younger body. He loves Joan and has for so long it should be an advantage, but how do you compete with a dashing war hero, his young wife and their unrealized dreams?

Turner, who rumor has it is one of the two finalists to be the next James Bond, is terrific as Luke. He's charming as hell, sweet to Joan and not afraid to take on Larry as a foe for her affections. I get why the new OO7 producers are looking at Callum. He's not an obvious choice in some ways, but definitely has screen presence and shows terrific range.

Olsen is the center of their attentions and the film, creating a Joan that you feel for as she tries to figure out who she wants to spend the rest of her life with. Eternity is indeed a very long time and there is no escape clause once you make a choice.

The last thirty minutes turns up the romance and the heart, loaded with unexpected choices and a damn near perfect conclusion.

You may think you know who she chooses, but don't be so sure. No spoilers here!

Looking for a feel good, romantic fantasy that leaves you happy (and choked up)?

ETERNITY is a pleasure.

Funny, sweet and clever is a trio that transcends any generation, earning this enjoyable tale an appreciative A.