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Corinne (Cybill Shepherd) and Louie Jeffries (Christopher McDonald) are expecting their first child. He's a prosecutor in Washington, D.C. He loses his case. Based on a tip from his best friend reporter Philip Train (Ryan O'Neal), he discovers that Judge Fenwick was bought off. He dies in an accident before he could see his child born. In the after-life, he is in a rush to return to his life. Before his memories are wiped, he races to be reborn. Years later, Alex Finch (Robert Downey Jr.) meets Miranda Jeffries (Mary Stuart Masterson) at Yale. Alex eventually remembers that he was Louie and Miranda is Louie's daughter.

It's charming and cute. Downey has wonderfully undeniable charms. The only thing holding me back is that awkward connection between Alex and Miranda. It's sort of psychic incest. I would have kept him with Cybill Shepherd all the way to the end. They are a fun pairing. It would also solidify them as true love beyond all barriers.

Another Downey must-see! If you are an obsessed fan like me, you have got to see this movie! He plays Alex Finch, a 22 year old Yale grad who realizes that the life he just came into is the life he left 26 years earlier. Alex is the re-incarnation of Louie Jeffries, a no-nonsense lawyer happily married to Corrine (Cybil Sheppard). Louie is killed on their one-year anniversary when he is hit by a car. He demands to go back, only this time in the body of Alex Finch. Enter Robert Downey Jr., a lot of confusion, and a lot of laughs.

Although this movie is 15-years old, it still makes you wonder if there really is such a thing as re-incarnation. And if so, how often to you meet the same souls life after life. I don't know the answer. But I do know that you need to see this movie. It is a riot, and Downey looks SO GOOD in a tuxedo. This film makes you believe in love, and true love never dies. It just gets recycled.

... that being a concept about reincarnation that has nothing to do with what you did in your past life. IOW in this universe, if you are a person and you die, then you come back as just another person, not as an aardvark if you were not so virtuous. The whole "heavenly waiting room" has the ambiance of an airline terminal with everybody in line going somewhere to be reborn. But it's very important that one of the "employees" give you an injection so that it is not possible that you remember your past life. If that's not done then, once reborn, you might see familiar things from your past life and suddenly remember who you once were.

Louis Jeffries (Christopher McDonald) marries Corrine (Cybil Shepherd). Louis is a district attorney and discovers that a judge is corrupt - He gets photo evidence of him receiving a payoff. But this is the same day as his one year anniversary, and he is killed trying to cross the street to the restaurant where he and Corrine will be celebrating.

When Louis gets to heaven he is frantic to be reborn as soon as possible so he can get back to Corrine, but in his haste he doesn't get the shot I previously mentioned that would allow him to forget all that happened when he was Louis.

23 years later he's a student at Yale. Alex Finch (Robert Downey Jr) who gets interested in Miranda, who happens to be Louis' daughter. She wants to take him home to meet her mother. Since Corrine still lives in the same home that she and Louis lived in when Louis was alive, being in this house eventually jogs Alex's memories of being Louis, and now he's in a terrible jam. Someone he now sees as his own daughter, Miranda, is making sexual overtures to him, while he is still in love with Corrine, which makes him look like a cougar chaser, especially to Corrine! Meanwhile there are those pesky incriminating photos of the corrupt judge that have been sitting in Louis' closet all of these years.

This is cringy at points yet charming, and well acted by the entire cast. It's a good early role for Robert Downey Jr. As Alex Finch who has Louis' past life memories. If you are looking for something sweet but not that challenging, it's a good go-to film.

I saw 'Chances Are' with Cybill Shepherd, Ryan O'Neal, Robert Downey, Jr. and Mary Stuart Masterson today on cable, after having seen it many times before. I've always liked it. I liked the plotline of a loved one returning in another's body and being able to express earlier unsaid feelings and take care of 'unfinished business' in a warmhearted and comedic way. Yes, it's a total fantasy, but still, we can dream! I like all of the principal actors and find Robert Downey Jr. adorable. The music was also very enjoyable, as Johnny Mathis sings the title tune (obviously : ) ), and the theme-'After All'- written by Tom Snow and performed by Cher and Peter Cetera, has a great sound. This wouldn't be on the top of my list for rentals, but if you catch it on tv or cable, I think you'll enjoy it.

The stage curtains open ...

"Chacnes Are" finds Robert Downey Jr. In between his younger 80's funny, and sometimes obnoxious, sidekick roles and his more serious leading roles in what would turn out to be a fun, light-hearted, romantic comedy. I'd never seen this movie, and it just recently popped up on my radar, so I decided to give it a watch. I'm so glad I did! We get Cybill Shepherd, who was fresh off of her success as Maddie from the highly popular TV series, "Moonlighting", in which she starred opposite Bruce Willis.

We begin our story with the wedding of Louie and Corinne Jeffries, a young couple completely head over heels in love. However, one night Louie is tragically killed in a car accident and goes to heaven - where he chooses to be reincarnated rather than stay - setting the stage for the main story to follow. We catch up to our characters 23 years later with Louie's new body being that of a college grad named Alex Finch (Downey Jr.). He falls for a beautiful young woman named Miranda. As fate would have it, Miranda is the daughter of his widowed wife - and when he visits her at her house, the memories start to come back until he hits the full realization that he is in his former home.

The chemistry does seem a bit off between Shepherd and Downey Jr., but in this case, it works. It fits the bill. She is now 23 years older, and though the sparks are there, it makes sense for it to be "off". As I was watching them together on screen, I was reminded of another similar situation when Alex Furlong catches up to an older version of his lost love, Julie Redland, in the movie, "Freejack". Only there, it was still his own body, but in this movie, Alex Finch only has the soul of Louie.

Even though the ending is 100% predictable, it was a fun time getting there. I loved the "feel good" aspects of this movie. I was smiling and laughing all the way through. All of the actors also seemed to be having a good time making it, and the music was excellent. As the end credits were rolling and I heard the song, "After All" by Peter Cetera and Cher, it just took me back to such a great time in my life. I highly recommend this film. It is a great way to spend 108 minutes. It will take your mind off the cares of the world and make you feel happy.

This isn't the best romantic comedy ever made, but it is certainly pretty nice and watchable. It's directed in an old-fashioned way and that works fine. Cybill Shepherd as Corinne isn't bad in her role as the woman who can't get over her husband's death. She has a sexy maturity. But I can't say much for Ryan O'Neal as Philip, because he is, at best, nondescript. He may be adequate in the role, but that's not good enough.

However, I get the feeling that some of the characters, particularly Alex and Miranda, are not written with enough in-depth thought. We don't know anything else about them because minutes after they appear the story gets thick, and the writers don't tell us much beyond what happens. But that problem was salvaged because Mary Stuart Masterson has a fresh-as-a-daisy sweetness to brighten it up, and Robert Downey Jr. is so charming that he melts the screen. Even his smile is infectious. And it so happens that his big dreamy eyes are perfect for the deja vu and flashback scenes.

Anyway, this movie is light and easy and if you like them that way, why not give it a try.

"Chances Are" is one of several romantic-comedies in the late-80s/early-90s starring Robert Downey, Jr. as the romantic/comedic lead. In my opinion, this is one of his best.

Along with the under-rated 1993 "Heart & Souls", these two movies bookend one another beautifully. They could almost be confused as the same movie since they look the same, have the same sense of humor and have the same leading man playing essentially the same character with minor differences. It may be why the new "Chances Are" cover has changed from the original 1989 purple and white cover. While "Chances Are" has RDJ being reincarnated to reunite with his long-lost love and her family, "Heart & Souls" has RDJ as the conduit for five ghosts to set things right with THEIR families. I believe "Chances Are" edges out the deserving "Heart & Souls" by a smidgen due to the better romantic theme and simple storyline vs. the more complicated "Heart & Souls" script due to the five ghosts' story lines.

As for "Chances Are" by itself, RDJ plays a reincarnated Louie Jeffries who was married in the 1960s to Cybill Shepherd (this was her last "beauty" movie where she looked stunning). Louie dies on his first anniversary and is reincarnated as RDJ. RDJ stumbles across the adorable Mary Stuart Masterson at university and eventually crosses paths with newspaper superstar, Ryan O'Neal, and Cybill, who has kept the candle lit for her dead husband for two decades, all within the first 15 minutes of the movie. Through several twists and comedic turns, RDJ realizes who he was and tries rekindling the flames with someone old enough to be his mother - and everyone else thinks he's either a gold-digger extraordinaire and/or psychotic. The entire story reminds me of the old-time Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant comedies of yesteryear where a little bit of overacting was allowed because it put a smile on your face no matter if the story was credible or not.

The movie is light, funny, charming, and just enough romance to make it a perfect date movie. The men will enjoy the humor and women will enjoy the romance. The cast looks to be genuinely enjoying themselves which makes the unlikely story easy to swallow. Robert Downey, Jr. has always been a special physical actor. He embodies the qualities of other actors into his own persona and magic comes out on-screen.

This may not be perfection, but it is worth watching as a light-hearted romantic comedy. I enjoy it every time I watch it again. It's in my top-20 rom/coms of all-time not because it's a classic - but because all the pieces fit so well to make a fun movie experience. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do. 7 out of 10.

After something around a dozen times this subject over past lives is back, now it touching on overtly on reincarnation process, the threesome main leading roles includes Shepherd who is still sexy even near forty years old, an already forgotten Ryan O'Neal and a promissing actor that reachs the stardom later Robert Downey Jr.

This amazing romantic movie made a huge success worldwide, driven as soft and humorous oriented comedy, a true high class picture, a bit mistakes and a weak point is about the so sugary music score, to much kitsch to my taste, Stewart and Cher...UGH!!! Anyway a fine offering that just come out on amazing original dubbed version to my delight, sorry for those who preffer subtitles!!

Resume:

First watch: 1994 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.5.

I was always a big fan of this movie, first of all have you seen the cast, the acting is superb and help make this movie move along very well. Cybill Shepherd was given great reviews for her role, and they were well deserved. The beginning of this movie starts in the past when Corinne Jeffries (Cybill) whose picture-perfect marriage comes to a shattering halt when her husband Louie dies unexpectedly. Fortunately, Louse gets a second shot at life when he agrees to be "recycled" back to earth as the newborn Alex Finch (Robert Downey, JR). Alex goes on to live his new life forgetting his past life while Corinne tries to get on with hers. But fate crosses Alexs path 23 years later when he meets Corinne's daughter Miranda (Mary Stuart Masterson) and is suddenly flooded with a wealth of unwanted memories (this is where the fun begins, and embarrassing situations occur.) The music is great and the scenes are heart felt and very cute. You wont be disappointed if you give it a chance, Chances Are you'll like it. Very funny and sweet!

CHANCES ARE is a charming romantic fantasy about a woman (Cybill Shepherd) whose husband (Christopher McDonald) is killed shortly after learning she is pregnant. We then see the husband in heaven letting the powers that be know that he was taken too soon and that his wife needs him. He is told he can return to earth but not as himself. Flashforward 19 years where we see Shepherd's daughter (Mary Stuart Masterson) preparing to graduate from college and encountering a young man (Robert Downey Jr.)who, it turns out is the reincarnation of her father. The film is a little on the predictable side...the story goes all the places you expect it to, but it is so charmingly played by an energetic cast (especially Shepherd and Downey) that you can't help but get wrapped up in the fun. Shepherd has rarely been seen on screen to better advantage and she and Downey are backed by a talented group of character actors in supporting roles. A lovely and charming fantasy that will engulf and enchant you.

A lightweight romantic comedy that's harmless enough. I particularly liked Masterson - she's really the only standout here. The plot is pretty basic for what it is, except for one crucial element that I think should have been explored more. The relationship between Downey and Masterson is played largely for laughs - he's actually her father's soul in a different body, and she becomes attracted to him - but it brings up all sorts of serious issues that are never discussed. I know, I know, it's just a light comedy - and normally I could forgive something like this, but for some reason it really bothered me. I mean, even "Back to the Future" dealt with this situation in a more sophisticated way. Nevertheless, it's aesthetically watchable and not a complete waste of time if you're not expecting too much.

A married couple (Cybill Shepherd, Christopher McDonald) remain extremely faithful to one another throughout their marriage but their happiness is cut short by McDonald's accidental death. Shepherd is devastated and her husband's best friend (Ryan O'Neal) serves as her only other male companion. O'Neal has strong romantic feelings for Shepherd and would like to fill in her empty nest but he only wants to pursue it if he's sure that Shepherd is ready for it as well. One night, Shepherd's teenaged daughter (Mary Stuart Masterson) invites a friend (Robert Downey Jr.) over for dinner. A heavenly mix up causes McDonald's spirit to be inside Downey's body and he and Shepherd are brought back together by fate much to O'Neal's chagrin. A fairly amusing romantic fantasy comedy that works in spite of its sometimes hokey plot.

I saw Chances Are three times in the theater! That is not to say it's a great movie. I was 17 years old at the time and a high school junior. Romance was high on the list of interests for me. This movie provided a sense of true romantic love albeit with a twisted sense of morality.

This movie is lightly entertaining. It's worth a view if you can't find anything in the video store with your girlfriends that you haven't already seen. As this movie's over a decade old it doesn't necessarily catch one's eye. Cybil Shepherd isn't exactly in her element here, Robert Downey seems more so, though it's hard to respect the guy's sense of morality. This comes into play when he decides to fall for both a mother and daughter! (Ok, decides isn't quite the right word, you'll have to see the film to know what I mean.)

At any rate, I'd give it a low 6 out of 10.

Writers Perry and Randy Howze crafted a very engaging little story in "Chances Are."

Using the idea of a reincarnated man who happens to return to his former wife's home many years later, the plot takes unexpected, delightful turns.

Twenty four year old Robert Downey, Jr. renders a delightful performance, ably assisted by Cybil Shepherd as the widow and Ryan O'Neal as a good friend.

This trio has just the right chemistry for this caper, playing off one another with a graceful style. I've watched this film a number of times on tv, and each time found it most enjoyable.

Predictable plot. Simple dialogue. Shockingly unemotional performances. But Robert Downey, Jr. is so cute, I gave this "poor man's afternoon special" a 3 instead of the 1 or 2 it so richly deserved.

Nay Sayers of this film are likely bitter from some seriously unrequited love. This is a great film for anyone capable of understanding Johnny Mathis's song, or any song from that era: Bobby Darin's, Beyond the Sea... or Stan Getz's, The Girl From Ipanema, et al...

I measure films by how many times I have to watch them before I'm satisfied... Chances Are had me back a few good times.

I also watch the synergy between the cast... I thought they worked well together.

Open your heart, and let the comedic magic of film transport you.

'Alan

Robert Downey, Jr. was never more relaxed and clean-cut--and benign--than he is here, cast as an ambitious young man who crosses paths with an older woman still mourning the death of her husband many years prior. Before you can say "déjà vu", Downey begins to understand he's the reincarnation of the woman's beloved...and that her playfully flirtatious daughter is actually his child too! Tasteful, easy-to-take romantic comedy written by Perry and Randy Howze mixes sentiment and farcical elements rather smoothly, and director Emile Ardolino keeps things moving fast, but there's nothing of substance here to make the film meaningful (or even memorable). When the Howze team do attempt a sense of seriousness (as with Ryan O'Neal telling Cybill Shepherd the only man to ever "come back" was Jesus Christ), the movie comes to a halt. There are some good performances, particularly by Shepherd (very low-keyed) and a twinkling Mary Stuart Masterson, but the picture is so cozy and glossy it practically evaporates. ** from ****

The lawyer Louie (Christopher McDonald) and the museum curator Corinne (Cybill Shepherd) are in love with each other. Corinne is pregnant and Louis schedules to have dinner in a restaurant with his beloved wife. However, a car hits him and he dies. He awakes in heaven and asks to reincarnate a.s.a.p. to be with Corinne. However the angel forgets to erase his memory when he returns to Earth. Twenty-three years later, Corinne has not forgotten Louis; she has a daughter, Miranda (Mary Stuart Masterson) that is in law school; and Louis´ best friend Philip (Ryan O'Neal) is close to the family. One day, Alex (Robert Downey Jr), who is Louis´ reincarnation, stumbles upon Miranda and fells attracted for her. She invites him to meet her family and he sees Corinne, bringing recollection and the feelings of his previous life. What will Alex do?

"Chances Are" is a delightful romantic comedy from the 80´s. It is impressive how creative were the writers and screenwriters in this decade. Even thirty and something years later, these comedies are still cult. "Chances Are" is no exception and it is a tremendous family entertainment in the present days. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Céu se Enganou" ("The Heaven Has Mistaken")