I saw "Just Like Heaven" for free on an airplane, and it mainly reminded me why I don't usually pay money for this sort of thing. It's a contemporary romantic comedy, one of those movies where the characters live in gorgeous, unaffordable apartments, and the soundtrack consists of snippets of old pop hits whose lyrics have some vague connection to the plot (this movie uses "Lust For Life" at least twice, as befits a story about a ghost).
Reese Witherspoon plays Elizabeth, an uptight, workaholic doctor--she thinks nicknames are childish, and stays at the hospital for up to 26 hours straight. Driving home after one of these long stints, Elizabeth gets hit by a truck. Then, her spirit starts appearing to David (Mark Ruffalo), a depressed widower who is renting her old apartment.
The first half of the movie is fairly amusing, with some good jokes. David and Elizabeth bicker constantly--at first Elizabeth doesn't believe she's dead, and she almost manages to convince David he's going crazy. Then she realizes she needs David's help in order to figure out what happened to her (she remembers almost nothing from her former life), but her rather prickly personality doesn't make things easy for him. Jon Heder contributes to the humor, as a slacker who thinks he has paranormal powers.
But in the second half, the comedy becomes much more ludicrous, contrived, and infrequent. And a whole lot of schmaltz takes the place of the humor. The last few scenes are totally predictable--just think of what would be the sappiest, most pseudo-romantic ending possible, and you'll figure it out too.
Witherspoon and Ruffalo are convincing as antagonists/reluctant friends in the first half, but that makes them unconvincing lovers in the second half. Though I've liked both actors in other projects, they seem to just go through the motions here. But I can't really blame them for not giving their all to such an emotionally manipulative, clichéd movie.
Reese Witherspoon plays Elizabeth, an uptight, workaholic doctor--she thinks nicknames are childish, and stays at the hospital for up to 26 hours straight. Driving home after one of these long stints, Elizabeth gets hit by a truck. Then, her spirit starts appearing to David (Mark Ruffalo), a depressed widower who is renting her old apartment.
The first half of the movie is fairly amusing, with some good jokes. David and Elizabeth bicker constantly--at first Elizabeth doesn't believe she's dead, and she almost manages to convince David he's going crazy. Then she realizes she needs David's help in order to figure out what happened to her (she remembers almost nothing from her former life), but her rather prickly personality doesn't make things easy for him. Jon Heder contributes to the humor, as a slacker who thinks he has paranormal powers.
But in the second half, the comedy becomes much more ludicrous, contrived, and infrequent. And a whole lot of schmaltz takes the place of the humor. The last few scenes are totally predictable--just think of what would be the sappiest, most pseudo-romantic ending possible, and you'll figure it out too.
Witherspoon and Ruffalo are convincing as antagonists/reluctant friends in the first half, but that makes them unconvincing lovers in the second half. Though I've liked both actors in other projects, they seem to just go through the motions here. But I can't really blame them for not giving their all to such an emotionally manipulative, clichéd movie.