This is a thoughtful little romance. Timothy Hutton is decent as Mike and a little better as Elmo. Kelly McGillis is cloyingly sweet as Annie but okay as Ally. I like that she gets to learn some of life's hard lessons - heartbreak, the loss of a parent, etc. Her time on earth is about growing up, since she was a "new soul" in Heaven. I also appreciate the journey that these two souls are on, to find one another and make their karmic kind of bond eternal. These are things that many of us romantics have wondered when we contemplate true love and whether there is really one special person out there for us or not. This movie attempts to address that question with some metaphysical bedazzling. It doesn't really address religion, other than to guarantee (according to Annie) that there is a God overseeing it all. Reincarnation is a thing. Jesus is never mentioned once. The main angel is called "Emmet" (and since "he" is played by Debra Winger I guess we are to surmise that "he" is transgender or somehow binary sexual) while the devil is represented by a living temptation named "Lucille" (Ellen Barkin). Some of the musical choices are inspiring, particularly the original featured song "We Never Danced" - which is supposed to be Elmo's baby and comes to the film courtesy of Neil Young, who also has a cameo as a truck driver. The cameos themselves are entertaining also. I especially like seeing one of my favorite authors, Tom Robbins, as a toymaker in Heaven. Ric Ocasek as a mechanic (of course). And Tom Petty as a hustler in a bar who gets out-hustled by Lucille. I also appreciate Ann Wedgeworth and James Gammon, who lend a little bit of reality to the film. Unlike many viewers, I wish more time were spent on earth instead of in Heaven, and that the earthly plot moved faster. It is the periodic slow bits where the characters are half-remembering their heavenly existence that drags this part of the film down. It could have kept the same idea by inserting references without having to montage or flashback so much. We could have seen more growth for Annie/Ally and Mike/Elmo. And the ending? Ummm ... yeah. I can only surmise that they were hit by a bus. Seriously. I think they see each other on the street and get immediately hit by a bus. The film does not show this but neither did it show Mike drowning at the beginning. So here's my spoiler. You will watch this film waiting for the big romantic meeting and hoping to see them start a new life together at the end, holding out for hope and all that. Nope. Somehow they must die because they recognize each other and end up back in Heaven with little explanation as to what happened. So they were hit by a bus. Or an atomic bomb went off and we missed it. They both died simultaneously of premature heart attacks when they recognized each other? Somehow, this is not a happy ending for me. Final review: good premise, some highlights, flawed presentation, deus ex machina ending.
Review of Made in Heaven
