Just like Heaven
Encyclopedia
Just Like Heaven is an American
romantic comedy
fantasy film
released on September 16, 2005, in the United States and Canada.Set in San Francisco, it was directed by Mark Waters, starring Reese Witherspoon
, Mark Ruffalo
, and Jon Heder
.It is based on the novel If Only It Were True
(Et si c'était vrai...) by Marc Levy
. Steven Spielberg
acquired the rights to make the film out of the book.
Just Like Heaven is the latest-released live-action film from DreamWorks to be sold to Soros Strategic Partners and Dune Entertainment II. This transaction was made soon after Paramount Pictures
became the parent of DreamWorks, which has since become independent again (though Paramount still owns distribution and other ancillary rights to the Soros/Dune-controlled library).
), a young doctor whose work is her whole life, is seriously injured in a car accident while on her way to a blind date. Three months later, David Abbott (Mark Ruffalo
), a landscape architect recovering from the death of his wife, moves into the apartment that had been Elizabeth's.
Elizabeth begins to appear to David at the apartment. However with ghost
ly properties and abilities it is clear something is not normal: She can suddenly appear and disappear, move through walls, and once takes over his actions. When they meet, they are both surprised, as Elizabeth is not aware yet of her condition. For the most part, David is the only one who can see Elizabeth, leading others to believe that he is hallucinating and talking to himself. It is later revealed that one of Elizabeth's young nieces can also sense her presence although she cannot see her.
At first, Elizabeth does not remember anything of her life, and refuses to believe that she is dead. Her memories come back gradually. Together, assisted by Zen-like psychic Darryl (Jon Heder
), she and David find out who she is, what happened to her, and why they are connected. Eventually, David discovers that the reason he is the only one who can see Elizabeth is that he was her blind date. They find that her body is in a coma in the hospital. In accordance with her living will
, she will soon be taken off life support
. Elizabeth's spirit
and David, who have fallen in love, manage to prevent this just in time, and she miraculously recovers. However, the recovered Elizabeth doesn't remember anything that happened during the coma or any of the events with David, leaving him heartbroken.
Sometime later, Elizabeth goes up to the roof of her apartment, which has been transformed into a beautiful landscaped garden. She sees David there, who had got in with the spare key he had kept in order to tend the garden. Just as he is about to leave, she asks for her key back. When their hands touch, her memory of the events during her coma are restored, and they kiss. Before the credits roll, Darryl is shown looking at them in a crystal ball
. Darryl is proud and sighs "Righteous".
, for which she won an Academy Award. Critics were mixed on the film, although the most prominent of them, such as Roger Ebert
, Richard Roeper
, and A.O. Scott, gave it favorable reviews. They all agreed that the plot had logical flaws that were somewhat overcome by good dialogue and characterization. The performances of Witherspoon, Ruffalo, and Heder were all generally well-received. Heder's appearance helped to debunk an urban rumor that the actor had died shortly after filming Napoleon Dynamite. The DVD release in February 2006 was given unusually strong promotional publicity.
" by The Cure
. Singer Katie Melua
recorded a cover version
of the song for the soundtrack of the film. Melua's version is played over the opening titles; the original version by The Cure, as well as the remainder of Melua's version, are played over the closing credits.
The orchestral score was written by Rolfe Kent
, and orchestrated by Tony Blondal
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
romantic comedy
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
fantasy film
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
released on September 16, 2005, in the United States and Canada.Set in San Francisco, it was directed by Mark Waters, starring Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
, Mark Ruffalo
Mark Ruffalo
Mark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He starred in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, Shutter Island, Just Like Heaven, You Can Count on Me and The Kids Are All Right for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best...
, and Jon Heder
Jon Heder
Jonathan Joseph "Jon" Heder is an American screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. His feature film debut came in 2004 as the title character of the comedy film Napoleon Dynamite...
.It is based on the novel If Only It Were True
If Only It Were True
If Only It Were True is French author Marc Levy's first novel, released in 1999. It was translated into English in 2000 and was adapted into the American film Just Like Heaven in 2005. A 2006 Bollywood movie named I See You is also an adaptation of this book...
(Et si c'était vrai...) by Marc Levy
Marc Levy
Marc Levy is a French novelist.Levy was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine. At the age of 18, he joined the French Red Cross where he spent six years. In parallel, he studied management and computers at Paris-Dauphine University.In 1983, he created a company specializing in computer...
. Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
acquired the rights to make the film out of the book.
Just Like Heaven is the latest-released live-action film from DreamWorks to be sold to Soros Strategic Partners and Dune Entertainment II. This transaction was made soon after Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
became the parent of DreamWorks, which has since become independent again (though Paramount still owns distribution and other ancillary rights to the Soros/Dune-controlled library).
Plot
Elizabeth Masterson (Reese WitherspoonReese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
), a young doctor whose work is her whole life, is seriously injured in a car accident while on her way to a blind date. Three months later, David Abbott (Mark Ruffalo
Mark Ruffalo
Mark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He starred in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, Shutter Island, Just Like Heaven, You Can Count on Me and The Kids Are All Right for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best...
), a landscape architect recovering from the death of his wife, moves into the apartment that had been Elizabeth's.
Elizabeth begins to appear to David at the apartment. However with ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
ly properties and abilities it is clear something is not normal: She can suddenly appear and disappear, move through walls, and once takes over his actions. When they meet, they are both surprised, as Elizabeth is not aware yet of her condition. For the most part, David is the only one who can see Elizabeth, leading others to believe that he is hallucinating and talking to himself. It is later revealed that one of Elizabeth's young nieces can also sense her presence although she cannot see her.
At first, Elizabeth does not remember anything of her life, and refuses to believe that she is dead. Her memories come back gradually. Together, assisted by Zen-like psychic Darryl (Jon Heder
Jon Heder
Jonathan Joseph "Jon" Heder is an American screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. His feature film debut came in 2004 as the title character of the comedy film Napoleon Dynamite...
), she and David find out who she is, what happened to her, and why they are connected. Eventually, David discovers that the reason he is the only one who can see Elizabeth is that he was her blind date. They find that her body is in a coma in the hospital. In accordance with her living will
Living will
An advance health care directive, also known as living will, personal directive, advance directive, or advance decision, are instructions given by individuals specifying what actions should be taken for their health in the event that they are no longer able to make decisions due to illness or...
, she will soon be taken off life support
Life support
Life support, in medicine is a broad term that applies to any therapy used to sustain a patient's life while they are critically ill or injured. There are many therapies and techniques that may be used by clinicians to achieve the goal of sustaining life...
. Elizabeth's spirit
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
and David, who have fallen in love, manage to prevent this just in time, and she miraculously recovers. However, the recovered Elizabeth doesn't remember anything that happened during the coma or any of the events with David, leaving him heartbroken.
Sometime later, Elizabeth goes up to the roof of her apartment, which has been transformed into a beautiful landscaped garden. She sees David there, who had got in with the spare key he had kept in order to tend the garden. Just as he is about to leave, she asks for her key back. When their hands touch, her memory of the events during her coma are restored, and they kiss. Before the credits roll, Darryl is shown looking at them in a crystal ball
Crystal ball
A crystal ball is a crystal or glass ball believed by some people to aid in the performance of clairvoyance. It is sometimes known as a shew stone...
. Darryl is proud and sighs "Righteous".
Cast
- Reese WitherspoonReese WitherspoonLaura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
as Dr. Elizabeth Masterson - Mark RuffaloMark RuffaloMark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He starred in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, Shutter Island, Just Like Heaven, You Can Count on Me and The Kids Are All Right for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best...
as David Abbot - Jon HederJon HederJonathan Joseph "Jon" Heder is an American screenwriter, actor, and filmmaker. His feature film debut came in 2004 as the title character of the comedy film Napoleon Dynamite...
as Darryl - Donal LogueDonal LogueDonal Francis Logue is an Canadian actor perhaps most famous for his role as Sean Finnerty in Grounded for Life.-Personal life:...
as Jack - Dina Waters as Abby Brody
- Ivana MilicevicIvana Milicevic-Early life:Miličević was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina to a Croatian family, the daughter of Tonka, a homemaker, and Damir Miličević, a slaughterhouse worker and entrepreneur. She emigrated to the United States at the age of five and was raised in Michigan...
as Katrina - Rosalind ChaoRosalind ChaoRosalind Chao is a Chinese American actress. Chao's most prolific roles have been as a star of CBS' AfterMASH portraying South Korean refugee Soon-Lee Klinger for both seasons, and the recurring character Keiko O'Brien with 27 appearances on the syndicated science fiction series Star Trek: The...
as Dr. Fran Lo - Ben ShenkmanBen ShenkmanBenjamin Shenkman is an American television, film and stage actor.-Life and career:Shenkman was born in New York City and raised in what he described as "the secular Eastern European Jewish tradition". He graduated from Brown University, and obtained a Masters of Fine Arts in 1993 from New York...
as Dr. Brett Rushton
Critical reaction
Although the film was popular, it was somewhat overshadowed by Witherspoon's more high-profile and almost simultaneously released blockbuster Walk the LineWalk the Line
Walk the Line is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold and based on the early life and career of country music artist Johnny Cash...
, for which she won an Academy Award. Critics were mixed on the film, although the most prominent of them, such as Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper is an American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM...
, and A.O. Scott, gave it favorable reviews. They all agreed that the plot had logical flaws that were somewhat overcome by good dialogue and characterization. The performances of Witherspoon, Ruffalo, and Heder were all generally well-received. Heder's appearance helped to debunk an urban rumor that the actor had died shortly after filming Napoleon Dynamite. The DVD release in February 2006 was given unusually strong promotional publicity.
Theme song
The title of this film is also that of a popular 1987 song, "Just Like HeavenJust like Heaven (song)
"Just Like Heaven" is a song by the British alternative rock band The Cure. The group wrote most of the song during recording sessions in southern France in 1987. The lyrics were written by the band's frontman Robert Smith, who drew inspiration from a past trip to the sea shore with his future wife...
" by The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
. Singer Katie Melua
Katie Melua
Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a British-Georgian singer, songwriter and musician. She moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then to England at fourteen. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003...
recorded a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the song for the soundtrack of the film. Melua's version is played over the opening titles; the original version by The Cure, as well as the remainder of Melua's version, are played over the closing credits.
The orchestral score was written by Rolfe Kent
Rolfe Kent
Rolfe R. Kent is a British film score composer.Kent was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. He attended St Albans School, then graduated in Psychology from the University of Leeds in 1986...
, and orchestrated by Tony Blondal
Tony Blondal
Tony Blondal, , is a film and television orchestrator and conductor, and record arranger. He started out his musical career playing live and doing studio recording sessions...