Danny Andrews

Just Like Heaven is a playful romantic comedy about a young doctor, Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon) with not enough time for a life and a man and David (Mark Ruffalo), who moves into her apartment after she slips into a coma. He is haunted by her spirit, and they decide to try and figure out the connection between the two of them.

The movie is all about two things: first about tickling your funny bone, and about pulling on your heart strings. The trials and tribulations of David trying to exorcise Elizabeth from the apartment is worth a few snorts, but the inclusion of Jon Heder (the character in Napoleon Dynamite ) as a pseudo-psychic only adds to the laughs. Then the laughs stop and the emotional orchestral music pieces come into play. The movie switches into overdrive, trying to make your girlfriend cry her pretty little eyes out.

The characters do a good job of making you care about the outcome of their relationships. Although David’s best friend is not given much screen time, the two seem like they could be good friends in real life. Jon Heder was a bit typecast. He gives his jokes in the same deadpan delivery he mastered for Napoleon Dynamite. Elizabeth is bubbly, blonde and lovable. David is a bit angst-ridden, which only makes you care about him more.

This movie is a good time and deserves a peek. It’s good for a date movie, good for a comedy and good for a romance. At the very least, see it when it comes out on video.

Three stars out of five.