Heaven Can Wait is
a remake of the 1941 film Here Comes Mr. Jordan, and it was remade again
in 2001 as Down to Earth. All three are based on a play by Harry Segall.
Heaven Can Wait is
a comedy about what happens when heaven gets it wrong. There’s hardly any moral
to the story, but it’s fun to watch. I didn’t laugh hard, but I chuckled here
and there, and I still enjoyed the concept. The idea that you were taken before
your time, and then they have to find a way to make it up to you, and it is
possible that you can lose all knowledge of everything before and after the
mistake, it’s a scary thought.
The first
version of this movie I saw was Down to Earth (2001), starring Chris
Rock. In that version, the guy mistakenly taken to heaven is an up-and-coming
comedian who ends up there due to a miscalculation. One thing you’ll keep
looking out for—if, like me, you saw the newer version first—is the view (side
or back) of the man whose body Joe takes over.
The movie
follows Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty), an American football player who’s been
waiting his whole life for a shot to play in the Super Bowl as a quarterback.
His dream finally comes true, but things don’t go as planned. During his
regular training routine, Joe is hit by a car and dies.
When he arrives
in heaven, he insists it’s not his time—his days of glory have just begun.
After a check, it’s confirmed that Joe was taken too soon, so they have to
return him to his body so he can continue his life—if they can find his body,
that is.
If I compare
this version to the newer one, I’m not sure which I liked better. Both follow
the same theme, but there are twists in the way things play out in the Chris
Rock version.
Sometimes, when
you hear a movie is a remake—or that a remake has been made—you get the urge to
see the original or the newer version. Since I’ve seen the remake, I guess my
curiosity about this movie is spent.
Heaven Can Wait isn’t a movie I can say will thrill you to the bone, but if you liked the Chris Rock version, you might enjoy this one too, they are almost one and the same.
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