TopDawg

"The Five People You Meet in Heaven" is, for the most part, a faithful rendering of Mitch Albom's novel of the same name. It features a cast of well-known actors, including Jeff Daniels and the legendary Ellen Burstyn in pivotal supporting roles. Jon Voight proves to be a good choice to play Eddie. He introduces himself to us as an older man with a great deal of pain in his life, both physical and otherwise, but who still has a good heart underneath his gruff exterior. This is shown in the way he treats children in the opening scene in the amusement park. As the story progresses, we see the causes of all that pain, as his life is reviewed. For example, we see the one seeming joy in his life, the love of his wife, taken from him prematurely. The acting is uniformly good. Dagmara Dominczyk has a unique, almost innocent radiance which appropriately gives an aura of mystique to the character of Marguerite. The story is at once sentimental and tough, reminding us that we may not be aware of the effect we have on others' lives, or vice-versa. It is a story which I am sure I will read (and view) many times over the rest of my life.

Diane Lane has always fascinated me, ever since I saw her debut movie, "A Little Romance," as a pre-teen. (She was in her early teens.) She has an elusive quality. She can look like a middle-aged, mom-next-door in one scene, and a girlish young woman in the next, seemingly without effort. Anyway, she is a consistently good actress, and, as Frances, is the one through whose eyes we see the story of "Under the Tuscan Sun." This is a delightful little movie, featuring lots of beautiful scenery, and containing some valuable messages: that love creates a family, and that oftentimes, our dreams come true in ways we would not have imagined. Sometimes, we have only to open our eyes to see the answers to our wishes right in front of us.

I enjoyed this remake quite a bit. Overall, I feel it lacks the creepiness of the 1976 original. Something about that film, the split-screen technique, the spinning camera on Carrie and Tommy as they dance, and of course the '70s fashions, made it very disturbing. This one seems tamed down quite a bit. I really thought Angela Bettis was impressive in the title role, as a girl who wants to fit in, but has been raised not to, and decides to rebel against her strict upbringing by going to prom. She "cleans up" nicely for the prom, too! Patricia Clarkson is okay as the mother, although I felt she could have played it up more. The actresses playing Sue Snell and Chris Hargenson were quite good. There were a few moments in this film that would fit in the category of "I'm so sure!" One of them was the casual attitude of Sue and of Norma in the police station after the disaster had happened. Norma especially seemed mighty chipper for someone who had just witnessed the deaths of most of her classmates, and narrowly escaped herself. The ending was rather cheesy. I guess they wanted to set it up for a sequel (which has already been made!). Overall, pretty good.