recommended

Perfectly adorable

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Chances Are is a charming, weird, clichéd and even a little bit perverse romantic comedy.Louie Jeffries (Christopher McDonald) is a lawyer who has uncovered a bent judge and suddenly dies in a road accident in 1964. He is reborn as Alex Finch (Robert Downey Jr) but in 1987 he meets Louie's daughter Miranda at Yale University and later his wife, Corinne and when he visits his old house for dinner, Louie's memories later return to Alex. He realises he is Louie Jeffries, Corinne's dead husband reincarnated as he has memories of events only Louie would had known.However it seems that Alex is not meant to get back together with Corinne but rather help her move on especially as their best friend Philip Train (Ryan O'Neal) a Washington Post journalist has always loved Corinne and help raise Miranda but Corinne has never got over her dead husband.At the time, Chances Are was a feel good comedy, well acted but stretched credibility and Alex falling for Miranda (Louie's daughter) was a little bit icky.

This was always one of my favorite romantic comedies. It's a fairly unique story, well done in terms of writing, and well-played by the key actors.I do want to say at the beginning that the Blu-Ray edition of this film, as produced by RLJEntertainment is NOT Blu-Ray quality. It's a very average DVD print. That's not to say its quality makes the movie un-enjoyable, but the sharpness is very lacking.Here, Cybill Shepherd is married to Christopher McDonald in a very happy marriage. He is killed because he learns that a powerful judge is taking bribes from a mobster. Ryan O'Neal is the best friend of both Cybill and Christopher, and is secretly in love with Cybill himself. After his death, McDonald is reincarnated, but an angel forgets to make him forget his previous life, and -- now as Robert Downey, Jr., he falls in love with his former wife (Cybill), but also in love with his own daughter. Meanwhile, Ryan continues to care for Cybill and her daughter, though he is deprived of Cyvill's love. Of course, Downey does begin remembering his former life, and finally convinces Cybill and Ryan who he really is...although the daughter never learns that. In the climax, the memory of the crooked judge returns and Downey provides the photographic evidence needed to convict him. And of course, they all (except the judge) live happily ever after -- Ryan with Cybill and Downey with the daughter (but that's okay, his memory and soul have finally been erased).This was the Robert Downey, Jr. that I loved, back when we (at least) thought he was a young Cary Grant in comedy-romance films like this one. Downey could handle such roles in a way that few such actors could. Of course, his years in embarrassing drug addiction ruined that ability...not as an actor, but as being believable when a sense of naivety was required for a part. This film was Downey at his peak in terms of romantic comedies. He's actually more successful now in totally different genres, and can no longer appear in films such as this one. A shame.Ryan O'Neal was really good here. I'm not much of a fan, but every once in a while O'Neal would come up with role where he was perfect. This is one. Similarly, Cybill Shepherd was never much on my radar, but she shines in this film. Mary Stuart Masterson (as the daughter) is equally excellent here; but it seems as if she never continued that early promise. Christopher McDonald's career also went in a different direction than one might have expected after viewing this film. He's very good here, and physical similarities (at least at the time) between him and Downey make this work.The one thing that people often bring up about this film is the Robert Downey's character ends up in love with his own daughter. Yes...but only after an angel wipes out his memory of a previous life. I guess it just depends on how you want to think of this and whether you want to let it bother you.I give this film a very strong "7", but I am disappointed in the Blu-Ray version.

Chances are is a light movie with rebirth of souls as a premise. It kind of gives you a Mills & Boons kind of feel. I have come to really adore Downey. He looks really angelic and cutely irresistible in this role. He shows a more mature comic flair than many of his previous movies before this movie . For example - like Weird Science, 1969, Rented Lips & Back to School. The cast is pretty much bang on in their portrayals. Overall, the story is well tied and makes a comic connection. Just keep in mind that when you sit to watch this movie, just loose yourself. Let your brain rest, sit back and enjoy.

First I liked that movie. It seemed to me a nice comedy with some silly moments. The costume designer Albert Wolsky did his best!!! The same as wonderful set decorator Robert R. Benton - this man really had a very good taste!!! But the script writers disappointed me extremely. The best ending would be the scene on the ladder, but instead of it, they decided that the father and his daughter should be together. Don't like the ending. The father becomes boyfriend of his own daughter and his ex-wife knows about it and finds it alright. It would be OK, if the scriptwriters would for example say that now there is a different soul in the body, but they did not, they only deprived him of memories. The actors were good, they were really funny. Cybill Shepherd was charming, Robert Downey Jr. was very funny in the dancing scene : )))... But some of the moments spoil even the impression of good acting. For example, Corinne Jeffries, played by Cybill Shepherd after the death of her husband was waiting for him 23 years (it's a long time!), she was true to him, she loved nobody but him, and when she met him and was just about making love to him, after a scene with her friend Philip Train (Ryan O'Neal), she very easily betrayed the man she was longing for so many years!!! It would be a good movie, if not the ending and some missed human psychology.