1978 – Heaven Can Wait

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heaven Can Wait – 1978

This is a remake of a movie that I didn’t really care for in the first place, 1941’s Here Comes Mr. Jordan.  I tried to go into it with an open mind.  Maybe they had found a way to improve the story or fix the plot holes.  But, sadly, they did not.  The changes they made were no more than cosmetic.  In fact, the only thing they really changed was the sport that the main character was playing.  In 1941, the character of Joe Pendleton was a boxer who wanted a shot at the champion title.  In 1978 Joe was a quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams who wanted to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory.  Why the change?  Aside from that, most of the differences were insignificant.  The inherent problems with the script remained.

Heaven Can Wait starred Warren Beatty as Joe Pendleton.  It is his life’s dream to be the quarterback for the Rams in the Super Bowl.  Unfortunately, an inept angel called the Escort, played by Buck Henry, sees Joe heading toward an accident, and takes his soul from his body about 50 years ahead of schedule.  Ok, here is my first real problem.  According to the rules of this film, there is a schedule that tells when people are going to die.  But if Joe wasn’t even scheduled to die for another 50 years, why was the Escort even there to collect his soul in the first place?

Then there was the saxophone.  Joe loved to play the saxophone, but he didn’t have it with him when his soul was taken.  But for some reason, he is carrying it at the way-station.  He is still wearing the same clothes he was wearing when the accident occurred, suggesting that he is supposed to appear as he did at the moment of his death.  But then, why the saxophone?

Because of the Escort’s mistake, soul collection supervisor, Mr. Jordan, played by James Mason, is called in to review the situation.  He corrects the error by making a deal with Joe, saying that he will give him the body of a person who is about to die.  Joes dream of taking the rams to the Super Bowl are so strong that he refuses every candidate who is not in top physical condition.

Ever patient, Mr. Jordan keeps looking and they eventually settle on Mr. Farnsworth, a multi billionaire whose wife, Julia, played by Dyan Cannon, and his personal secretary, Tony Abbott, played by Charles Grodin, are having an affair.  They are murdering Mr. Farnsworth for his money, of course.  Then, Betty Logan arrives, played by Julie Christi.  She is coming to yell at Mr. Farnsworth for being a mean billionaire.  When Joe sees her, he instantly falls in love with her and decides to take the Farnsworth body.  Inexplicably, the saxophone shows up in the hands of his new body.  But he is still obsessed with playing quarterback for the Rams at the Super Bowl.  So he goes into training and hires his old trainer, Max Corkle, played by Jack Warden, to get the Farnsworth body into shape.

I’m sorry to say it, but the potentially good plot is ruined by the lack of attention to the details of good story telling.  Add to that, some pretty ridiculous acting by Dyan Cannon, and I have a hard time taking the film seriously.  Something else I noticed was that this is the first nominated film in which I can recall seeing the style and the fashions turn towards that classic early 80’s aesthetic.  For example, the horribly ugly hairstyles for the women really stood out to me, especially the ridiculous perm they gave Julie Christi.  It looked awful!

As I was watching the movie, I was rolling my eyes at some of the costumes they were making Warren Beatty wear as the wealthy Mr. Farnsworth.  He was dressed in pseudo-military sailing uniforms.  They screamed, “His character is rich!  He needs to look rich!  This is what rich people wear!”  He ended up being a parody of a rich man.  At least the character questions the clothing and stops wearing it.

As with the 1941 film, the biggest problem I have with the film has to do with the character of Max Corkle.  Joe has told him the secret of his real identity.  But in the end, the Farnsworth body is successfully murdered by Tony and Julia, and Joe is given the body of the Ram’s star quarterback, Tom Jarrett who is killed on the football field at the Super Bowl.  After Joe wins the game, he forgets who he is.  But Max still has knowledge of the afterlife!  It was never addressed in either film!  While it doesn’t break any rules, I guess, it just looks like a loose thread that should have been tied off.  But hey, what do I know.  Someone thought it was a good enough story to remake the film, and they were BOTH nominated for Best Picture.  But I have to ask… what am I missing?