Seven Minutes in Heaven

Searching for this movie in the depths of my brain left me ecstatic to find it here. This is a charming movie that had me daydreaming when I was in grammar school. Classic.

I originally came across Linda Feferman's Seven Minutes in Heaven when I was 14 and worked at a video store and I loved it. I recently watched the movie again and have realized that it is a lost treasure. The movie stars Jennifer Connelly, almost twenty years before she would go on to win an Oscar for Beautiful Mind, as Natalie Becker. Byron Thames plays her best friend in the world, Jeff Moran. The film is definitely a milder, cuter and softer version of the Pretty in Pink's and Some Kind of Wonderful's of the 1980's, which is exactly why it is so good. It's honest, not forced like those films, and parents will enjoy watching this movie with there kids.

When Natalie's Dad leave home on a business trip, Jeff convinces her that he should move in because his home life sucks. With support from Natalie's friend, Polly, played exquisitely by Maddie Corman, she lets him. But this movie isn't about putting kids in situations and seeing what they can get away with. The three leads are so natural and the script, surprisingly so honest, that what comes through best in their performances is heart breaking. These characters really do care about each other. It's a great film to show to kids who are reaching pre-teen adolescence.

While other 80's teen movies get all the glory, this movie is worth taking a good looking into. "Seven Minutes in Heaven" is an angst on the art of coming of age. Most of the themes is love, sex, and relationships that come and go. Here you got Natalie(Jennifer Connelly) a brilliant, yet independent student who lets her friend Jeff(Byron Thames) stay at her house after a big fight with his stepfather(Marshall Bell). Then there's Polly(Maddie Corman) who has the toughest time in school finding a boyfriend. So what does she do? Falls in love worth a baseball player from New York named Zoo(Billy Wirth) . Well, when Natalie dates one of Jeff's friends, she discovered he is anything but faithful. And Polly meeting with Zoo doesn't go the way she wished for. All the pandemonium is going on all around. Jeff's mother tries her best to bring her son home, and make a connection with the new stepfather. As for Natalie, she just need to open up, and be more forward with everyone. She lost her mother to leukemia. Polly on the other hand needs to be happy with herself and be true to herself. Yes, it's a pain to be goofy, but chasing the winds can make you more miserable. It's a fun movie, should be used for educational purposes in my opinion. Not too raunchy, very subtle. A keeper in the books. 2 out of 5 stars.

This is one of those movies that is largely forgotten nowadays. 'Seven Minutes in Heaven' is the only feature film that Linda Feferman ever directed and it was in competition for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival 1986. It didn't win that award but it did receive the 'Special Jury Recognition for Youth Comedy' at the festival that year.

Admittedly, the plot of 'Seven Minutes in Heaven' is average at best and typical for a comedy of the era, but it is still a decent coming-of-age movie thanks to its rather strong main cast of genuine teenage actors. Jennifer Connelly is as sweet as always and Maddie Corman is equally delightful. Byron Thames is also great in the role of the somewhat quirky guy. I wonder why he didn't get more roles in 1980s comedies after this one. It's nice to see Marshall Bell, an accomplished and widely recognized character actor, in a small supporting role.

By the way, 'Seven Minutes in Heaven' was released on DVD in 2010 as part of the Warner Archive Collection. The picture quality of the transfer used for that DVD is surprisingly good for an archival release of a rather obscure movie made in 1985.

Lots of adjectives like "cute", "sweet" and the always trite "delightful" from my IMDB colleagues below to describe this exercise in teen somnolence. I notice that these descriptors tend to be used on movies like this that neither offend nor provoke but, rather, move pleasantly along until they're done. Kind of like drinking RC Cola. It's ok, but you'd much rather be imbibing a Coke (i.e. John Hughes) or a Pepsi (i.e. Amy Heckerling), and are more than a little annoyed that co writer/director Linda Feferman cannot even manage a decent ripoff of the original 80s teen formula. Nice autumn in Jersey burbs location shooting, though. Solid C.