Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Am I Missing Something?

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It's 1959 San Francisco. Penny Washington (Alfre Woodard) leaves her three children to work the night shift. Harrison Winslow (Charles Grodin) abandons his singing audition. Julia (Kyra Sedgwick) turns down her boyfriend's proposal. Petty thief Milo Peck (Tom Sizemore) tries to get back some stamps that he stole from a boy. They all get on the same bus that crashes into the Reillys on their way to the hospital. She is forced to give birth on the side of the road. The four bus passengers are stranded as ghosts in the world connected to baby Thomas Reilly. The kid gets in trouble and the ghosts agree to stay invisible for the good of Thomas. Thomas (Robert Downey Jr.) grows up to be a ruthless corporate banker. His girlfriend Anne (Elisabeth Shue) asks him to meet her parents. The bus driver comes back to pick them up. The ghosts are suppose to resolve their one issue but no angel came to explain it. So he gives them some additional time to finish.RDJ gets to do some big time acting pretending to be the four other characters. There is just too many stories to go through. It's not as funny as it wants to be. The ghosts leaving one at a time makes it feel anti-climatic. The story feels like it's slowly fading away. It would be better if they have a ticking clock and the ghosts stick together for the whole movie. It's a good movie for RDJ fans.

As someone which had zero expectations towards this film, i found it to be somewhat impressive. It's not a comedy film nowhere near of the level of 'Groundhog Day', arguably the best comedy of that year, but still, it's a enjoyable film.Of course, it's After Life's premise is very interesting, although with a strong inspiration in 'Ghost'. The first forty minutes and so are excellent and by far the best part in the film. The build-up was so interesting that i forgot the childish tones in the film. But unfortunately, the film goes downhill and it's climax really don't offers enough to the excellent build-up of the film. It's a question of action-reaction: If you creates a great conflict, you expect a great answer. Also, the cinematography was good, with a very good art design, notably using blue lightning everywhere adding an aureate feeling to it. Robert Downey Jr. don't did so much to the film,though. His acting was very below average. So, this film can be an interesting pass-time. But not recommended, unfortunately. 5.8/10

I had never heard of this movie until about 3 days ago, when it turned up on Netflix in a search. Normally, I skip these movies, but I had to wash the taste of Spy Kids 4 out of my brain, and it starred Robert Downey Jr, aka Iron Man & Sherlock Holmes, so I hit Play. What I got is one of the best comedies from the early 90's I've ever seen.Without spoiling anything, the movie involves 4 people who died at the exact moment Downey's character is born, so they somehow become "attached" to the kid, interacting with him through his early childhood. However, an incident causes them to hide from him for presumably the rest of his life. But that's reversed when Downey's character is in his 30's and the spirits suddenly realize they each have some unfinished business they must take care of. What follows is a lot of slapstick, character comedy, and heartwarming scenes to entertain young and old.One of the best parts of the movie is, of course, Robert Downey Jr's acting. This is early in his career, so he looks incredibly young and inexperienced, but he tackles not only his character, but several other characters throughout the movie like a pro. Whenever he's on screen(which is nearly the whole movie), he has something funny to either say or do. The supporting cast are all charming as well, featuring the ghosts of a sassy black woman, a loving fiancée, a timid singer, and a greaser with a heart of gold, each with a fun personality and character. The effects are rather good for the time as well, with transparency and wire-work for the ghosts that is convincing enough to get the point across, but not enough to distract the audience from the characters. The camera-work of San Francisco is also well done, with close-up shots and wide shots used to achieve perfect perspective.One of the few problems I have with this movie is that it can sometimes get a little TOO heartwarming and sappy. When these scenes happen, they drag for a bit too long, which is more obvious toward the end. The introduction is nearly a third of the movie and is nearly a short film in itself, which is fine unless you want to get to the main point of the film. There's also a subplot concerning Downey's girlfriend that is practically glanced over and, for the most part, pointless. None of these scenes are so long you'd want to fast forward, but in this age of fast acting and quick editing, you may be thinking "Get on with it" a few times.Overall, this movie is a very charming, very heart-warming, very funny movie, using an idea that's been used so many times and creating an original atmosphere. I'd recommend this movie for fans of Robert Downey Jr, early 90's comedies, or anyone who wants to laugh and be inspired at the same time.

If I were to describe this film in one sentence it would be: a typical Hollywood after death comedy that makes Mormonism look interesting. It is tempting to leave it at that but I will not. Heart and Soul is about four people who are killed in a bus accident in 1959 after the bus driver drives off of a bridge while perving on a woman in the car next to him. The four people on the bus are trapped around a baby who is born at that instant and travel around with him until he is grown up. Then one day the bus comes along and the four ghosts suddenly realise that they are meant to fulfil their unfulfilled dreams and thus have a second chance at life. Thus they must convince the baby, who is now an adult, a yuppie, and a snob, to help them.Now, the theologically sickening things about this film. First, everybody goes to heaven, no matter what they do. If they are bad, they have to do penance, such as driving a bus to pick up dead people, but they still all end up in heaven. There is no God or judgement, and as such it is a fantasy, and atheistic view of the after life. God exists but he is a nice cuddly person that lets us do what we want, and if we do something that is a bit bad, we suffer a little punishment, but generally hell does not exist.What is wrong with that? Well the fact is that I do believe in hell and in a God that is not only interventionist, but is actually sickened by the evil that we do. Without hell there is no judgement and without judgement everybody, no matter how evil they are, get away with what they did wrong. This is covered by the idea of purgatory. This is okay, but theologically incorrect. The bible says we are either for or against God, there is no halfway point, which is purgatory. If we ignore God then God will disown us. The second wrong this here is that God is generally a tolerant guy. God is far from tolerant. He is not at all tolerant with people rebelling against him in the same way that a government is not tolerant of people rebelling against them. For those that follow him, upon them he showers many blessings (though not necessarily in this life). For those who do not follow him with, he ejects from his kingdom, which a king has a right to do, and thus they must suffer for eternity. God is the rightful king. He created the universe and thus rules over it. To rebel God against the rightful king earns his anger, which a king has a right to do. This might seem harsh, but the truth is that God showered immense blessings on us in the beginning in the Garden of Eden and we turned from him by disobeying his one simple commandment: do not eat from the fruit in the middle of the garden.This movie also implies that we have a second chance if we die. We have none. When we die, all unfulfilled things remain unfulfilled. The only fulfilling thing in life is becoming a Christian because nothing else lasts after death. The second most fulfilling thing is to see others become Christians, and to build them up for that also lasts after death. Everything else will not come beyond death.