Barnes & Noble

This minor comedy-drama with romantic overtones is not only saved but also significantly enhanced by a nimble performance from the always-adorable Reese Witherspoon, once again taking an underwritten character and skillfully fleshing it out. She portrays work-obsessed intern Elizabeth Masterson, who apparently dies in a tragic car accident. Her spacious apartment is subsequently rented to David Abbott (Mark Ruffalo), a lonely architect trying to rebuild his life following the death of his wife. Elizabeth -- or, rather, her ghost -- returns to the apartment and begins haunting David, the only person who can see and hear her. Though Just Like Heaven twists itself into narrative knots with an especially silly third-act contrivance, plot ultimately recedes in favor of performance, and the underlying sweetness of both main characters more than amply compensates for any script failings. Contributing minor but important supporting turns are Donal Logue, playing David’s skeptical best friend, and Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Heder, who comes close to stealing the show as a faintly psychic bookstore clerk. Heaven doesn’t have any of the edge or hipness of director Mark Waters’s preceding film, Mean Girls, but its genuine warmth and gentle humor should not be dismissed or undervalued. This is a nice, family-friendly movie with a positive, uplifting message -- and we could definitely use more of those. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

A couple who live on different sides of the divide of life and death discover just how many boundaries love can cross in this romantic comic fantasy. Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon) is a hardworking and dedicated medical resident who, after 20 hours on duty, is heading home when she falls asleep at the wheel of her car and is involved in a fatal auto accident. Several weeks later, a man named David (Mark Ruffalo) takes over the lease on Elizabeth's apartment, but he discovers that she hasn't quite vacated the building. Elizabeth's body may be dead, but her spirit is still quite lively, and her ghost is insisting that the apartment is still hers...and that she wants him to move out. David brings in Darryl (Jon Heder), an eccentric man who claims to have psychic powers, to help sweep Elizabeth's spirit out of the apartment, but she refuses to budge, certain that she can't be completely dead, despite all evidence to the contrary. As Elizabeth and David try to share the flat, they discover that their differences aren't as great as they once imagined, and they become attracted to one another. But will Elizabeth's spirit stay in the land of the living long enough for their romance to go somewhere? Just Like Heaven marked Jon Heder's first feature film role after his breakthrough appearance in the independent hit Napoleon Dynamite. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 678149197327
• Source: DREAMWORKS VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English, Français
• Subtitles: English, Español, Français
• Time: 1:35:00
• Sales Rank: 9,225

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Girls Night in Collection

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