Sometimes it takes a film that may not be as well-known today to become a fan of some of the biggest names in Hollywood. While this is not the best work of Reese Witherspoon or Mark Ruffalo, this 2005 rom com introduced me to them and I have been a huge fan of both ever since. Spoilers ahead as always. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE.
If you looked up workaholic in the dictionary you might find a picture of Elizabeth Masterson (Witherspoon), an emergency physician who is always working for a promotion. Her sister Abby (Dina Waters) sets Elizabeth up on a blind date and she is on her way there when she gets into an accident. Three months later David Abbott (Ruffalo) a widowed, alcoholic landscape architect rents out Elizabeth’s apartment. Sometime later Elizabeth’s spirit appears, freaking both her and David out as she doesn’t believe she is dead, nor does she remember anything about her life. As David is the only one who can see and hear Elizabeth they both set out to find out what happened to her and why only David can see her; to hilarious results as people think David is crazy for talking to himself including his best friend Jack (Donal Logue) and one of his neighbors Katrina (Ivana Milicevic) who is trying to sleep with him. The only person who seems to believe them is a weird psychic bookkeeper Darryl (Jon Heder). Along the way David and Elizabeth fall in love and when they realize what happened to her Davis is determined to bring her back to him.
I have seen better written romantic comedies, but Just Like Heaven is still pretty cute. Reese is very funny as well as sweet in this movie. Mark Ruffalo is fantastic as a man who has been through so much; it almost feels like his character gets an awaking when he realizes how much he cares for Elizabeth. Heder was pretty good as well; the film also debunked a myth that he was dead. I also enjoyed Logue in this movie as the sarcastic and hilarious Jack. As I stated earlier while I have seen both actors in better movies this is the film that made me a fan of Witherspoon and Ruffalo; both have great chemistry in here and I kinda wish they would do more movies together. We’ll have to wait and see on if it happens again. Just Like Heaven is a good girls night or romantic movie night, but this is not a film I would put high on a must watch list. If you find it on TV or rent it on Netflix by all means watch, it will definitely leave you with a feeling of life is to short so do what you want, say what you want to say and fall in love.
Films or Television Worth Watching 