01
Defending Your Life
Why this pick
Like Heaven Can Wait, it turns the afterlife into a witty, warmly bureaucratic place, using a high-concept premise for gentle romance and an affirming, humane comic arc.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1978 2h 0m USA
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
Heaven Can Wait
ComedyFantasy
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved Heaven Can Wait, try these.
01
02
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Why this pick
The elegant earlier version of the same body-swap-after-death premise has the same breezy supernatural logic, sports-world setup, and affectionate screwball spirit.
03
Being There
Why this pick
Its deadpan fable follows an innocent, accidental public figure through an absurdly elevated new life, balancing satirical comedy with the gentle, optimistic strangeness that powers Heaven Can Wait.
04
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Why this pick
A luminous fantasy-romance with classic Hollywood polish: its impossible premise is treated sincerely, creating the same blend of escapist charm, yearning, and bittersweet warmth.
05
Big
Why this pick
A magical identity shift lets an earnest protagonist inhabit a glamorous adult world; it shares the buoyant pacing, fish-out-of-water humor, and unexpectedly tender romantic perspective.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
Joe Pendleton, a backup quarterback for the American football team Los Angeles Rams, is looking forward to leading his team to the Super Bowl. While riding his bicycle through the older west side of tunnel one on Kanan-Dume road in Malibu, an over-anxious guardian angel (known only as The Escort) on his first assignment sees Joe heading into the tunnel, and a large truck heading into the other end of the tunnel towards Joe and his bicycle. The Escort plucks Joe out of his body early, in the mistaken belief that Joe was about to be killed. Pendleton immediately arrives in the afterlife.
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02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Warren Beatty
Joe Pendleton
Julie Christie
Betty Logan
Charles Grodin
Tony Abbott
Buck Henry
The Escort
Vincent Gardenia
Krim
Joseph Maher
Sisk
Hamilton Camp
Bentley
Arthur Malet
Everett