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| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
link to the most popular dvd movies. |
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“Heaven
Can Wait”
|
 |
Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Drama |
| Video: |
1.85:1 Anamorphic
widesccreen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
2.0 |
| Languages |
English,
French |
| Subtitles |
English |
| Length |
109 minutes
|
| Rating |
PG |
| Release Date |
4/1/03 |
| Studio |
Paramount
Home Entertainment |
| Commentary:
|
None |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
None |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Theatrical trailer |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
None |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Warren Beatty,
James Mason, Julie Christie, Jack Warden, Dyan Cannon, Charles
Grodin |
| Written
By: |
Buck Henry,
Warren Beatty, Robert Towne (uncredited) and Elaine May |
| Produced
By: |
Warren Beatty
|
| Directed
By: |
Warren Beatty
and Buck Henry |
| Music:
|
Dave Grusin
|
| The
Review: |
This marvelous remake of Here Comes
Mr. Jordan manages to infuse the original story with a great
romantic story about second changes. Los Angeles Rams quarterback
Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty) dies before his time claimed
by an overzealous angel (Buck Henry). Forced to return Joe,
the angel discovers that Joe’s body has already been cremated.
At Mr. Jordan’s (James Mason) insistence, Joe reviews bodies
he can return in. He picks the body of industrialist Leo Farnsworth.
The only reason that Joe picks Farnsworth is the beautiful
Betty Logan (the lovely and talented Julie Christie) a passionate
environmentalist who opposes the destruction of a small English
town. Romantic sparks fly despite their differences and “Farnsworth”
transforms into a much more compassionate individual than
before. ---
|
| Image
and Sound: |
Overall,
the image quality of this Academy Award winning film looks quite
good. The colors are solid albeit although they appear a bit
faded at times and the fleshtones vary quite a bit throughout
the film.. Scratches and other analog blemishes mar this fine
print at various points throughout the film. The image appears
sharp throughout most of the movie although it does occasionally
appear soft such as the sequences set in Heaven. Some of this,
no doubt, was intended but the quality drops so drastically
in some spots that I have no doubt it’s because of an inferior
print. The mono soundtrack is good presence and there’s not
much in the way of hiss but there’s also little in the way of
dynamic range. --- |
| The
Extras: |
A disappointing
affair in the way of extras. Although Paramount is now releasing
deluxe editions of older titles, back in 2003 when this was
released that was the exception not the rule. Sadly, there’s
no making of featurettes. There’s a great opportunity here
to also compare the original film to this remake and gather
interviews with Beatty, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon, Julie
Christie, Buck Henry and others on what attracted them to
remaking the original 1940’s classic film. We do get a very
poor looking original theatrical trailer.
|
| Commentary:
|
Charles Grodin
could be the king of commentary tracks if given the chance to
do one. Sadly, his acerbic wit doesn’t get aired here as there
is no commentary track. With wits like Henry and an intelligent
film star like Beatty involved, this is a missed opportunity.
|
| Final
Words: |
A minor
classic comedy gets a nearly bare presentation on DVD. This
film needs to be restored, remastered and re-released on DVD.
With the wit and intelligence of much of the cast of this film
and the extras lesser films are receiving, hopefully Paramount
will consider re-releasing this in a deluxe two disc edition
the way it deserves to be presented. |
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