Heaven Can Wait

One of my top 100 of all time, 1978's HEAVEN CAN WAIT holds up perfectly today, delivering relentless laughs and one of the best endings in film history.

Warren Beatty (Bonnie and Clyde, Bugsy) stars as Los Angeles Rams Quarterback, Joe Pendelton, who is grabbed a bit too early by an over anxious guardian angel at the scene of an accident.

Buck Henry (Catch-22, The Graduate) is hilarious as the nervous escort and James Mason (North by Northwest, A Star is Born) is perfect as Mr. Jordan, the man in charge of Heaven.

When Mr Jordan realizes the error, he volunteers to put Joe back into another body temporarily, while they find a suitable replacement for the QB.

Joe soon finds himself in the body of wealthy, elderly & eccentric Leo Farnsworth, who is surrounded by a cheating wife and a personal secretary who are trying to kill him.

Dyan Cannon (The Last of Shiela) and Charles Grodin (The Heartbreak Kid, Midnight Run) have their best film roles here as Mrs. Farnsworth and Tony, bringing non-stop laughs to every scene they're in. Cannon has never been funnier than she is here, relentlessly trying to kill her very old husband.

Joe, in his new body, decides to try out for the LA Rams, buying the team in order to get that tryout.

Former Team Owner: "He got my team. The son of a bitch got my team."

Advisor: "What kind of pressure did he use, Milt?"

Former owner: "Well, I asked for sixty-seven million, and he said "okay."

Advisor: "Ruthless bastard."

Jack Warden (All The President's Men, Being There) is excellent as Joe's trainer and best friend Max, who meets Joe again in the body of Leo Farnsworth when Joe (in the body of the rich eccentric) introduces himself as the new owner. Got all that? All the moving pieces are beautifully assembled into a modern comedy classic with heart.

The screenplay by Elaine May, Robert Towne and Beatty is smart, funny and non-stop enjoyable.

The supporting cast is perfect, with standouts Arthur Malet as butler Everett ("Well Mr. Farnsworth is pretending to talk to people in the closet, so I thought he might want to have cocoa with them..") Vincent Gardenia as a police detective and Joseph Maher as Sisk, the confused and enlightened butler.

Best of all is Julie Christie (Doctor Zhivago) as activist Betty Logan, who pursues Farnsworth to right a wrong and soon finds that there is a lot more to Farnsworth (or is that Joe?) than she ever expected.

The last ten minutes serve up one of the best endings to a film ever, sweet, heartfelt, satisfying and perfectly executed.

The board room scene alone is worth the price of admission, as are the NFL training scenes and Cannon's flashback to "seeing a mouse".

This is brilliant writing and perfect execution that serves up a bit of heaven on every viewing.

For his work in this film, Warren Beatty became the first person to be Oscar nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for the same film, as well as the first to be nominated in these three categories and Best Screenplay (in this case, Adapted). He co-directed with Buck Henry, the first time in the chair for either.

It's brilliant work all the way around.

One of my all time faves and a solid A+ that gets funnier every time you watch it.

It's alright. There's nothing to be afraid of.