Just Like Heaven

Directed by Mark Waters, Just Like Heaven follows workaholic physician Elizabeth Masterson (Reese Witherspoon) as she dies in a car accident and subsequently finds herself trapped in an earthbound purgatory – with this causing no end of consternation for the man (Mark Ruffalo’s David) renting her old apartment. Filmmaker Waters, armed with Peter Tolan and Leslie Dixon’s screenplay, delivers a predominantly forgettable (and thoroughly generic) romcom that remains basically watchable from start to finish, and there’s little doubt, certainly, that the picture’s tolerable atmosphere is due almost entirely to the brisk narrative and charming work of its various performers – with, in terms of the latter, Witherspoon’s bubbly, engaging efforts here matched by Ruffalo and a roster of off-kilter periphery players. (Donal Logue, cast as David’s best friend, turns in a scene-stealing appearance that remains an ongoing highlight, to be sure.) It’s clear, then, that Just Like Heaven‘s relentlessly (and aggressively) lighthearted sensibilities pave the way for a decidedly hit-and-miss midsection and second half riddled with silly sequences and interludes, and although it admittedly does conclude on an appropriately feel-good note, the picture’s third act contains one of the most needless (and unwelcome) examples of the fake break-up cliché as one can easily recall – which does, in the end, cement the movie’s place as a decent-enough romantic comedy that’s rarely, if ever, as endearing or entertaining as its two lead performances.

**1/2 out of ****