Just as is the case when they're alive, we like ghosts much better when they're friendly, lovable or funny as compared to the cantankerous sorts that want to scare or forcibly drive us from their former, Earthly abode. At least that's the case in fiction where the angry or scary ones usually remain anonymous (even if we know who they once were), while everyone knows the likes of Casper (after all, his subtitle is "The friendly ghost").
It's too early to say how movie history will remember Elizabeth Masterson, the lovely if confused spirit in "Just Like Heaven." Odds are she likely won't have a ghost of a chance (sorry, couldn't resist). That's not only because her vehicle is a romantic comedy (with a light, supernatural twist) but also a mediocre one at that. And to top it off, it includes a bunch of feel-good rom-com topics such as ghosts, marital death and a "to pull or not pull the plug" right to life subplot that may rub some viewers the wrong way, what with reminding them of the Terry Schiavo case.
Okay, so it's not as gloomy as all of that may make it sound, but those are some odd additions to an otherwise lightweight and broadly played romantic comedy. It's so much of the latter that it feels like director Gary Marshall ("Raising Helen," "Runaway Bride") was behind it (he's not) or that it's just an introduction to a TV sitcom where such material feels far more at home and often passes for supposed clever entertainment.
That said, I'm sure there are those who will eat it up faster than the containment devices sucked up spirits in "Ghostbusters" (that unwisely is referenced here in a montage, even with the signature theme song). I just wish the overall effort had been funnier, smarter and something other than a standard romantic comedy all dressed up in an obviously transparent ghost's clothing.
Yet, as penned by writers Peter Tolan ("Guess Who," "Stealing Harvard") and Leslie Dixon ("Freaky Friday," "Pay it Forward") -- who adapt Marc Levy's novel "If Only It Were True" -- and helmed by director Mark Waters ("Mean Girls," "Freaky Friday"), it's just that.
If the trailers and TV commercials didn't already tip you off, the all too readily obvious rom-com formula (with all of the usual trappings, character actions and plot developments) surely will. At least the ghostly material puts a little spin on the familiar story arc, but it could and should have been so much more imaginative, clever, fun and romantic than it turns out to be.
I guess the filmmakers needed to save space for the golden nuggets of dialogue about letting life pass you by and the alive being brought back from "the dead" that are so obvious and thick with metaphors and symbolism that you need a surgeon's scalpel -- check that, machete -- to cut through them. All of which only adds to that feeling of everything being played far too broadly, a fault that also flows over to the performances like some unwanted, ethereal presence.
Despite the charm and likableness that they may bring to their roles, Reese Witherspoon ("Walk the Line," the "Legally Blonde" films) and Mark Ruffalo ("13 Going on 30," "You Can Count on Me") can't do much with their overdrawn, sitcom-style characters (although she fares a bit better than him, even if he gets to do a bit of decent "All of Me" type slapstick material when she gets into his body). Some fine if clearly not novel nuances are present -- she being the harried doctor, he a still affected widower -- but the rest of the material simply overwhelms that as well as much of the chemistry between them.
The film is also somewhat lacking in terms of the very category where most rom-coms usually excel and that's with the supporting characters. Donal Logue ("The Patriot," "The Tao of Steve") is about as close to the standard as we get here, but he's mostly limited to reacting to what he sees as David's mental instability (another bit of comedy that isn't played up enough or as smart as it might have been).
Dina Waters ("That Haunted Mansion," "Freaky Friday") and Rosalind Chao ("Freaky Friday," "I Am Sam") play the sibling and best friend parts, Jon Heder channels a bit of his previous Napoleon Dynamite personality to play the Whoopi Goldberg type part (from "Ghost"), while Ivana Milicevic ("Love Actually," "Down With Love") does the hussy bit with full gusto. None, however, are particularly memorable in their parts.
Notwithstanding the unusual medical and ethical material on hand that's present for humorous situations, the film will probably play okay to non-discerning viewers who don't mind their comedy painted with broad, sitcom-style strokes. For me, the film has its moments, but could have been so much better. As far as films of this type, this isn't anywhere "(Just Like) Heaven Can Wait." The film rates as a 4 out of 10.
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