Just Like Heaven

Just Like Heaven isn't far short of a classic among romantic comedies with a teary chaser, sure to please fans of "Ghost" and "Heaven Can Wait." more

Yes. The movie works, and so we accept everything. more

Works because of the utterly charming leads and a strong supporting cast. more

Crossing the life-death divide, Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo are a winning pair in this smart and tender comedy. more

There's a manipulative streak to the proceedings, and you'd have to be stone cold dead not to grasp the inevitable outcome long before the third act, but it's a professionally handled sort of emotional manipulation common to its genre, dating back to "Blithe Spirit" and, somewhat less memorably, "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir." more

That Just Like Heaven succeeds at all - at least for teenage girls with limited interest in the drafting of living wills - is due entirely to Witherspoon's can-do charisma. more

The film, which comes way too close to preaching, lurches away from the control of director Mark Waters (Mean Girls, Freaky Friday) and ends on a stretched-out note so sappy it makes "Must Love Dogs" look like "8 Mile." more

Garnering a chuckle or two, but no more, are Donal Logue from "The Tao of Steve" (now there's a comedy) -- and, as a desperate magnet for both the slacker and "dude" demographics, Jon Heder from Napoleon Dynamite. more

Belongs to the same class of cotton-candy romances as "Chances Are" and "Somewhere in Time," although it steers its light-hearted subject into darker territory with the life support subplot. more

Sadly, most of the fun and all the magic derive from the location. The most enthralling fantasy of Just Like Heaven is that an unemployed landscape architect and a fledgling doctor can afford a sprawling apartment with a rooftop view in San Francisco. more

What a wonderful movie. After a summer full of dull blockbuster, shoot 'em up, aliens attacking, superhero flicks, I was sooooo ready for the fall fare, and Just Like Heaven is the perfect way to start. Reese Witherspoon is, well, heavenly and altogether lovely, but Mark Ruffalo truly impressed me. And, for the Napoleon Dynamite fans, Jon Heder makes an appearance as an occult bookstore attendent. This character is probably what Napoleon would be doing 10 years down the road. Napoleon aside (please don't see this movie just for him!), this is a very sweet, fun, and surprising romantic... more

David Abbott has lost everything - his job, his home, and most importantly his wife. He has just been simply existing and drinking excessively to help cover the pain. David has been looking for a furnished home in San Francisco to rent, and quite by accident stumbles upon the perfect temporary solution. He is happy with his choice, and the prospect of moving in until he sees a woman who is insisting she is the owner. David wants her gone, but she makes it clear that she isn't going anywhere until she figures out what is going on. Together they try to put the pieces together, and discover... more

I didn't like the previews for this one: They made it look like a ghost story. It is much more than that. The problem with the previews was that they couldn't show you what the film ultimately was about without spoiling. I won't tell you either except to say that the film takes a turn at one point and changes direction. It becomes as good of a romantic comedy as has ever been made. The story is about a widower (Mark Ruffalo) who seems to be haunted by the ghost of a prior tenant, a workaholic hospital intern played by Reese Witherspoon. But when we find out what is really going, it changes... more