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I'm a fan of 80's movies and The Heavenly Kid was a nice yet charming story filled with emotion, drama and just the right touch of romance added to it. The story is about a a teenage rebel who died in a car accident in the late 60's and is sent down to earth in the 80's on a mission to help a nerdy young man and gain his entrance into heaven.

Lewis Smith was perfect as Bobby Fantana he played the part of a rebellious greaser very well. During the film his character discovers quite a few surprises along the way and learns the importance of sacrifice and getting a second chance. Jane Kaczmarek in her days before Malcolm In The Middle was well casted as Bobby's former girlfriend Emily and the mother of the young lad he was sent to help.

In the 1960's Bobby Fantana (Smith) is a rebellious, greaser with attitude who challenges Joe Barnes(Metcalf) to a game of chicken after he made a pass at his girlfriend Emily. Bobby wins the race but unfortunately isn't able to get out of the car in time and dies in an explosion. 17 to 18 years later he's given an assignment and that is to help an awkward kid become more confident aiding him in the job is his guide Rafferty (Mulligan). Once on earth he meets his project who turns out to be geeky Lenny Barnes (Gedrick) a teen in love with a popular girl named Sharon. Soon enough Bobby begins working his magic and the once shy young man becomes more confident and cool.However with this newfound coolness Lenny becomes cockier and defiant towards friends and family. During the course of the story Bobby discovers that Lenny's mom is his former girlfriend and that she's married to Joe his old rival.

There is a scene where he makes himself visible to Emily and they spend a nice night out reminiscing and then she drops the biggest bombshell of all Bobby is Lenny's father. Trouble soon arises when Rafferty informs him that Lenny is going to die in the same manner as he did, it's then that Bobby learns about the true meaning of love and sacrifice when he decides to give up his soul in order to prevent his son's death.

Filled with nice music and a good ending The Heavenly Kid is a pleasant surprise for anyone who deserves another chance at life.

There were a lot of great flicks that came out in the mid to late 80s. Many of them (most directed by John Hughes) went down as classics. Others were overlooked and underrated. Some became sleeper hits (John Cusack flicks) and still get heavy play in my VCR, especially during the Summer. "Heavenly Kid", however, is one of my faves that not too many people have heard of.

It's a pretty straight forward story that could have been lifeless, but struck an emotional chord with me due to the acting and the sentimental value of the whole thing. It's also a great father-son story done from a different and original take.

Bobby is your typical badass, black leather jacket wearing, cigarette smoking, drag racing, babe magnet who is killed in a game of chicken. This happens within the first five minutes of the movie and the next thing you know, Bobby is on the train to heaven. Upon getting there, he's presented with a small problem. They won't let him in unless he plays guardian angel and gets his wings. So it's back to earth for Bobby.

He's sent back approximately seventeen years later to help a young geek get his life straight and to give the kid a little self-esteem.

This is a wholly enjoyable film that anyone can enjoy. Although, some may complain that the ending is predicatable, they would be disappointed if it ended any other way.

... you might enjoy the location, as it was filmed there! If I remember correctly, the film was shot over the summer of 1984 at the school. Noticeable is part of the main hallway, one of the classrooms in the main hallway near the east entrance (the few with windows - most of the remaining classrooms had them removed) and the dreaded cafeteria. In the background there's familiar posters and signs from the era: the "SKATEBOARDING USA" sign honors Mr. David Hudak, one of the school's English teachers and the 'Pioneer Regiment' is the name of the school marching band. Contrary to popular belief, the school wasn't painted pink for the film, it was done afterward.

Heavenly Kid, The (1985)

*** (out of 4)

Rebel Without a Cause and It's a Wonderful Life meet the 80s teen comedy in this film which is certainly very bad but I've enjoyed it for many years now. The film starts off in the late 1960's as the rebel (Lewis Smith) gets killed in a chicken race. Fast forward to the present day and the rebel must do a good deed before he can enter Heaven. That good deed just happens to be taking a dork (Jason Gedrick) and turning him into a winner. Everything about this film is rather campy and corny but I've been a fan of this film since I was a little kid and caught it on some station that I can't remember now. This was my first time watching the movie in at least ten years and I must say it did contain that nostalgic feel and I still enjoyed it. The film has some of the dumbest lines but they made me laugh. The story is stupid but it's still funny. The performances are all one note but I've always felt Lewis Smith was very funny because he's playing someone cool yet he really doesn't come off too cool.

A kid (Lewis Smith) from the late-1960s (who appears to be from the 1950s due to his antics and wardrobe) dies one night in a chicken car race. He is unable to get into Heaven though because of his life on Earth so thus he goes back to the 1980s and tries to help a dorky high school student (Jason Gedrick) become popular and cool. Also along for the ride is Gedrick's mother/Lewis' old girlfriend (Jane Kaczmarek of "Malcolm in the Middle" fame) and motorcycle-riding guardian angel Richard Mulligan. So many plot holes and predictable twists stall this one pretty fast. Smith and Mulligan do what they can together, but they have elementary-styled aspects of film-making to work with. Everything else is not worth your time or effort. Not the worst film of the time period, but another one of those unwanted footnotes from the mid-1980s. 2 stars out of 5.