A Masterpiece!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Blistering performances.

A little trip to heaven is an odd film, not good though not particularly bad. It's a film that survives on the merits of an excellent cast and in particular the performance of Forest Whitaker. He play a quiet, reserved inquisitive insurance investigator. His character Abe has so many ticks and tocks and little mannerisms that it's a pity he's never fleshed out, Abe is a good man but why does he do what he does? Why is he single if he's so sympathetic? And why does he care about Isolde? None of the questions aroused are answered. There is no mystery here. The story is okay, excluding some footage earlier on would have been awesome, for instance if you left the audience in doubt for a longer time it would have been much better. The film just never pulls you in, it keep the viewer at a distance, even with all it's foibles this could have been an amazing film if they could have simply fleshed out Whitakers character. The ending sucks too, pure suckage, inexplicable actions taken and consequences garnered...

Okay, first off, it wasn't an absolutely horrible film. The soundtrack was kinda neat although very oddly placed along side the story. I FULLY agree with many of the other posters here (which I SHOULD have bloody well taken MORE time to read first!!!!!) when they say that the visuals and the VAGUE fundamental mood of the film is good. But, it is SO dang BLAH...They simply could have done WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more with it. The way the dialog was written and staged (directed) left a HELL of a lot to be desired. Needless to say Forest Whitaker's accent was ABSOLUTELY, CATEGORICALLY, and COMPLETELY annoying and unnecessary. I mean, did ANYONE ELSE bloody well sound like that???!! What the HELL was the point??? GEEZ...If the director had just done EVERYTHING the same EXCEPT added some really good, stylistic, Lynchian Surreal touches... Bloody SOMETHING!!!! Then maybe I could have at least lived with it...VERY, VERY disappointing...

After a suspicious fatal car accident in Hastings where the identity of the victim was forged, the Quality Life insurance company sends their smart investigator Abe Holt (Forrest Whitaker) to identify the body. The unique beneficiary of the one million dollars death benefit is the sister of the victim, Isold (Julia Stiles), who lives with her son Thor and her husband Fred (Jeremy Renner) in a poor cabin in the middle of nowhere. Along the investigation, Abe discloses the truth about the fraud, but feels sorry for Isold and Thor and tries to help them with tragic consequences."Little Trip to Heaven" has a good premise, showing both sides of the insurance policies, with some fraudulent cases of clients and questionable procedures of the companies themselves. The story is good, with a suspenseful atmosphere in a dramatic and tense situation. In spite of the very disappointing conclusion, this movie worth watching. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "A Fraude" ("The Fraud")

i have to say that this was a well acted, very well directed little offering, i would like to have seen more of Peter Coyote as i thought he portrayed the part of the Investigator with relish, and seemed to revel in ensuring people did not receive their full benefits. the whole feel to the film was dark, brooding and you always felt that things could not get any worse for Mr. Renner & Ms. Stiles, but it did. i suppose people will feel this is to dark for their tastes, but these are the dramas that make compelling viewing. Forest Whitaker does a good job and displays a determination to resolve the case that if were true to life, with the income he displayed within his character, i am not sure would be there?i notice a lot of 10/10's for this movie and think this is unwarranted, but having said that this was a worthwhile effort and should be seen.