Un mariscal de campo de Los Angeles Rams, accidentalmente arrancado de su cuerpo por un ángel ansioso antes de morir, regresa a la vida en el cuerpo de un millonario recientemente asesinado.Un mariscal de campo de Los Angeles Rams, accidentalmente arrancado de su cuerpo por un ángel ansioso antes de morir, regresa a la vida en el cuerpo de un millonario recientemente asesinado.Un mariscal de campo de Los Angeles Rams, accidentalmente arrancado de su cuerpo por un ángel ansioso antes de morir, regresa a la vida en el cuerpo de un millonario recientemente asesinado.
- Dirección
- Guionistas
- Elenco
- Ganó 1 premio Óscar
- 9 premios ganados y 14 nominaciones en total
Opiniones destacadas
The story is put in motion when Pendleton is yanked out of his body by an overzealous angel before he's meant to die. By the time the error is discovered it's too late for Pendleton to be placed back into his own body so he must accept an alternate host among individuals who are about to die. When he does finally settle on a body he quickly resumes his goal of attempting to become the starting quarterback for the Rams but he must also contend with his predecessor's murderous wife and shady business dealings.
Being pretty faithfully based on "Here Comes Mr. Jordan", it's no surprise that "Heaven Can Wait" has a somewhat old-fashioned feel. However, that's a good thing. The clever plot of the original was kept mostly intact while bringing the characters and the comedy up to date. Overall, I find the remake to be funnier and just different enough from the original to keep it fresh. I still give the original a slight edge in narrative construction, though.
The cast of the original made for a high standard to match but I think that the remake met and possibly even exceeded it. Beatty made an engaging lead of a totally different sort than Robert Montgomery and being teamed with Julie Christie again was the icing on the cake. The supporting cast was also superb with multiple standouts including James Mason, Jack Warden, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon & Buck Henry.
Lavished with nine Oscar nominations, "Heaven Can Wait" is a movie that shows attention to detail in all areas. In the end, the film's only Oscar win was for art direction/set decoration, though the tight writing and jaunty musical score could have just as easily been honoured as well (not to mention one or more of the actors).
I'm a bit surprised at the movie's somewhat middling rating on this site but I suspect that's probably because it represents a throwback to an earlier era of film-making. If that sounds appealing to you, by all means check this movie out.
The entire cast does an absolutely perfect job in this movie. From Warren Beatty, to James Mason (is James Mason physically capable of putting in a bad performance ? ), to Buck Henry, to Jack Warden.
Perhaps the two best performances are Charles Grodin (the slimy personal assistant to Leo Farnsworth),and Dyan Cannon as the psycho Julia Farnsworth. They are both brilliant in their roles.
Very worth watching. Also worth more than its IMDB 6.9 rating.
The story is relatively simple: Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty), a quarterback in the twilight of his career, feels destined to make it to the Superbowl. The LA Rams, his team, are in the playoffs. One day during early-morning training after consuming his liver-and-whey shake, he bicycles into a tunnel where two large vehicles taking both lanes are charging from the other direction of the tunnel. Looks like Pendleton will be playing in a Superbowl coached by Vince Lombardi with George "The Gipper" Gipp as one of his teammates. The next thing he knows, he's jogging among clouds with an escort (played by writer-director Buck Henry who also played the hotel attendant in "The Graduate") in a suit and tie trying to get him to stop running around. Pendleton is still in his athletic clothes sporting a soprano saxophone and doing push-ups among the fluffy billows. He doesn't quite realize he's died. Or has he? Turns out the escort made a mistake: Pendleton would have survived, perhaps avoided, the collision, but the escort nabbed him from his body before the resolution of the event, relying on "probability and outcome", a recurring theme of the movie. Pendleton was not due for many decades.
His case is taken up by Mr Jordan (James Mason in one of his later roles) a kind of heavenly supervisor who apparently coordinates peoples' souls. Realizing the mistake, Jordan takes Pendleton back to earth to find him a new body so he can live out the rest of his life as he was meant to. The only one available is the body of millionaire Leo Farnsworth who has just been murdered care of his estranged wife and personal assistant, played brilliantly by Dyan Cannon and Charles Grodin. One of the best scenes is when Pendleton reappears as Farnsworth, and Cannon nearly has a conniption. Pendleton, now as stuffy gazillionaire Farnsworth, must forge a way to get back to the Rams in time for the Superbowl.
The aspect that saves this film from falling too far into sentimental gush or absolute unbelievability is the quality of the acting of the leads (particularly Warren Beatty, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon, Julie Christie, James Mason, and Jack Warden as Max, the Rams' trainer) coupled with a fine screenplay. Everything is believable. Certainly the whole concept is just about as far-fetched as the Land of Oz, but you never contemplate that possibility for a moment. For some reason, everything works, and you run with it, not unlike "It's a Wonderful Life". As silly and fantastical as it is, the trip is well worth it.
Beatty not only proves himself to be a perfectly competent film director, and the picture also provides the star with one of his best roles as an actor. Beatty's good-natured football player Joe is the exact type of lovable stud that you cannot help but fall for. The film's screenplay takes Joe from earth to heaven and to back to earth again through an assortment of various bodies, and Beatty's easygoing charisma holds it all together and keeps viewers involved in the story and fixated on the screen. This is a star performance if there ever was one, and Beatty has rarely been more likable.
The rest of the cast is particularly winning. The still silver-tongued James Mason (in a part originally offered to the retired Cary Grant) as the heavenly Mr. Jordan and the endearing gruff Jack Warden are perfect as father figure-types for Beatty's Joe, and Charles Grodin and Dyan Cannon are absolutely terrific as the film's pair of villains. The only performer missing the boat is a blah Julie Christie, who is pleasant but unconvincing in the sadly underwritten role of the ecologist love interest of the body Beatty has temporarily inherited. It seems as though the creators thought dressing Christie in frumpy wardrobe and frizzy hairstyle was enough to give the character depth, but all they succeeded in was making a natural beauty look rather hideous.
The film is a joyous, comedic piece of whimsy that manages to incorporate slapstick comedy, romance, fantasy, and even an underdog sports story without ever feeling bloated or disjointed. The true emotional highpoint comes with Mr. Jordan's farewell to Joe, as well as Max failing to recognize him in his new body. The rather shallow development of Christie's character leaves the film's THE WAY WE WERE-like finale ringing a bit hollow, but it's still an effectively bittersweet coda nonetheless. This film launched a major revival of whimsical comedies that remained popular until the late-eighties, and it easily remains the best effort of this revival.
¿Sabías que…?
- TriviaThe first choice for Mr. Jordan was Cary Grant who reportedly turned down a US $1-million offer from Warren Beatty. Website Wikipedia states: "Beatty lobbied hard for Cary Grant to accept the role of Mr. Jordan, going so far as to have Grant's ex-wife, Dyan Cannon, who stars as Julia Farnsworth, urge him to take the part. Although Grant was tempted, he ultimately decided not to end his retirement from filmmaking". The Turner Classic Movies website states: "Beatty had some grandiose notions about who should play Mr. Jordan . . . He wanted Cary Grant . . . but Grant had retired a dozen years earlier, and had no interest in returning to the screen". Beatty also considered former Senator and 1968 anti-war Democrat presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy for the part prior to James Mason in the end being cast as Mr. Jordan.
- ErroresThe boom mic can be seen when Joe comes down the staircase.
- Citas
Former owner: He got my team. The son of a bitch got my team.
Advisor to former owner: What kind of pressure did he use, Milt?
Former owner: Well, I asked for sixty-seven million, and he said "okay."
Advisor to former owner: Ruthless bastard.
- Bandas sonorasSonata No 3, Movement 4
Written by George Frideric Handel (as G.F. Handel)
Performed by Paul Brodie and Antonin Kubalek
Courtesy of Golden Crest Records
Selecciones populares
- How long is Heaven Can Wait?Con tecnología de Alexa
Detalles
Taquilla
- Presupuesto
- USD 6,000,000 (estimado)
- Total en EE. UU. y Canadá
- USD 81,640,278
- Fin de semana de estreno en EE. UU. y Canadá
- USD 3,652,486
- 2 jul 1978
- Total a nivel mundial
- USD 81,640,278