Made in Heaven (1987)

Pretty Good

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

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.

"MADE IN HEAVEN" given to me, years ago by a friend, who saw my relationship with my husband as a very interesting spiritual connection, was, to me, a powerful, and touching film. I have seen several films that explore the themes. "Defending Your Life", with Meryl Streep, and a great cameo with Shirley MacLaine, who has, in her personal life, explored almost all the themes of spirituality touched on,(and then some), in the movie. Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan, in "City of Angels" played an angel and a doctor, and the Angel, who helped people when they died, fell in love with her, found out from a patient, former Angel, that he could become human, and pursue his love. That developed an interesting storyline. The aunt in Made In Heaven, who took up painting, shows an idea about learning new things between lives, and seeing her paintings, or ones like hers, on earth, develops the thought of ideas shared from the minds in "heaven" as did the song,"We Never Danced", and the kids playing at computers. My own son, while very young told me he remembered choosing me to be his mother, before he was born, saying he was at school, but not like the schools here, and his teachers were helping him, because it was his time to come back, showing him the faces of all the women on the planet who were willing to be his mother, and as soon as he saw my face, he chose me, because we had been together, in family since the beginning. Whatever

The most amazing thing about this movie isn't how perfect, enlightening, romantic, positive and fulfilling it is, but rather how it has managed to stay out of the central focus of the mainstream movie kind lovers. Obviously you have to have a certain open mind to fully enjoy it, but if you do,and if you let yourself believe that things may be done and organized in a certain way and that our acts can and do have a direct impact on whatever happens to us and to those around us, then this movie will gently, softly and almost mystically put the pieces of the puzzle together for you. There is for each one of us a special someone and at the risk of having this turn into a weapon in cynical peoples' minds, this is the kind of movies which lets you know that you shouldn't give up, and that you should keep the fire alive. I have used this movie for the longest time to pick me up from hard times and gather myself ton continue ahead. I am positive it can do the same to you... Enjoy it!

I read the guidelines and they recommended me not to say anything regarding to others comments, but I just wanna say to those who thinks this film is "boring"; Have you ever thought that on the second half of the film is supposed to be "everyday-life"? The director seems to playing on the contrast between heaven and earth. Heaven is "perfect" and never a dull moment, while earth is a difficult place to live and we are bored stiff sometimes. I have to admit that the director hasn't thought every detail trough. He could have made this movie much better, if he focused more about the souls as he does when they are in heaven. Examples; what makes us the one we turn out to be? played more with our ideas we take back with us(like the song "we never danced") from heaven. What I'm saying is that it seems the director was rushing the film to be released in the end of production. Although the film has these small "flaws", I think the film gets extra stars for originality, and it definitely touched me in some ways I can't describe. - The boring second half, is a portrayal of life and it's flaws-.