Mr. Destiny

Living the part of your life you wished were better is something that many of us have wished we could do, but for Larry Burrows, it becomes reality in "Mr. Destiny."

Jim Belushi definitely played his best part in this well-done film about second chances. The character of Larry Burrows is believable and is like many blue-collar workers in America. Burrows is the kind of person that lets everyone go ahead of him, with out trying to get ahead himself.

The chemistry between Belushi and Linda Hamilton as Ellen is very charming, something that many loving couples have. Michael Caine was also superb as Mike, who actually creeped me out the first time I saw this, which was at least 10 years ago. It was amazing to see how contrasted his normal life was as opposed to his "rich life." People liked him in his ordinary life, but he was feared and despised in his "rich life."

In my opinion, this film teaches a very important lesson: Life is what you make of it, and one should be thankful of what they have, and what helped them get there. Destiny is what shapes us, and good things will definitely come our way.

RATING: ****1/2 out of 5. Excellent!:)

The basic ideas in "Mr. Destiny" shouldn't surprise anyone watching. After all, similar plots have appeared on many television shows and movies, such as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Family Man". So there are no surprises here. Now this isn't really a huge complaint...the film is still enjoyable and it's a nice turn off your brain and enjoy sort of story.

The story begins long ago. Larry (Jim Belushi) is playing the championship game and strikes out....and years later, he STILL blames the direction of his life on this one incident. And, his secret wish is granted when a mysterious and magical guy (Michael Caine) appears and tells him that the past has been changed....he DID hit that ball and won the championship. Now, however, his life is so very different, as he lives in a huge mansion, married the boss' daughter, has a great classic car collection and much more. But what he doesn't have are his old friends and wife....and he misses that more than he possibly could have imagined.

The film is pleasant but also has one problem which impacted how much I enjoyed it.... Jim Belushi's character is simply too dumb at times. While he knows his life is completely different, he often thinks and acts as if it's his same old life....and ends up alienating a lot of people in the process. It really defies common sense when Larry acts this way...as if he really hasn't any concept of change. Why would he trust the man who he knew in his previous life if a devious Satan? Why would he cheat on his new wife when she adores him and treats him like a king? Why would he not try to explain away how oddly he's acting?! It's still enjoyable...but it doesn't make a lot of sense at times.

Belushi plays an average Joe whose bored with the simple life and his uneventful existence. Convinced that his life would have turned out better had he made a home run instead of a miss in a ball game in his high school years, he gets the chance to see how his life would have turned out had he hit that ball. And what a difference it did make.

A simple and charming little sleeper, Mr. Destiny plays it's It's a Wonderful Life scenario in good fashion. James Belushi gives an endearing performance and manages to keep his cool throughout. Linda Hamilton and Michael Caine give good support and an array of familiar faces (Rene Russo, Jon Lovitz, Courtney Cox, Hart Bochner) add to the pleasure. Film is overall free of slapstick humor and plays it straight and it does have some very humorous moments. And a good message as well.

On the whole Mr. Destiny delights undemanding viewers who could do a lot worse than this film.

I admit I have a weakness for alternate history stories, from ITS A WONDERFUL LIFE to GROUNDHOG DAY to 12:01. Among those greats is this little gem. It's pretty difficult to get through MR. DESTINY without giving a nod of appreciation to each and every cast member, from the goodhearted James Belushi to the murderous Courtney Cox. This movie lacks the gravitas and scale to make it a great film, but it's a fine cheer-up on a rainy afternoon. It's also a great rental for an inexpensive date.

I just watched this movie yesterday on cable, and i really enjoyed it. Ok, it´s not the greatest movie ever, but i would recommend this movie to everyone who wants to see a simple movie, wich in the end makes us think, even if it is for a little while. Everyone has thought even once what if we hadn´t choosed a particular path in our lives, and this is what this movie is about. About the "IF" and about what might have happened. This is a story about a guy, who thought a bad event from his teen years, had ruined is entire life, then he is sent by some spiritual entity to a parallel universe in which that bad thing never happened and he gets to experience first hand what would have happened in his life, if his life had followed this other path. After this he learns that, there are good and bad moments in every ones lives independent of what lifes we live.

And so we have a very good movie. This is one of those movies, that we watch, and quickly forgget, but sometimes when somebody mentions it, we imediatly recall all the details. It is one of those movies that we always remember even if it is from time to time.

Another peculiar thing is MR.DESTINY is filled with familiar faces in every corner. From James Beluchi and Linda Hamilton to Michael Cane ,and we can spend the whole movie recognizing actors, wich is also fun.

So i don´t have much more to say, except that i really recomend this movie.

Very simple, but very good and very cute too. It realy puts a smile on our face by the end of it. So watch it, and be happy.