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Movie Review:
Just Like Heaven

Production Company: Dreamworks
Director: Mark Waters
Principals: Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, Jon Heder
Rating: PG-13 (mild language and sensuality)

By Gregg Tubbs

(UMC.org)—Where have all the good romantic comedies gone? It seems that Hollywood has lost its knack for this sturdy screen staple. Recent offerings—with the exception of the amusing Hitch—have run the gamut from lame to lamer. Finally, out of nowhere (or maybe heaven), come Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, lighting up the screen with clever banter and sweet romantic sparks in Just Like Heaven. Sweethearts rejoice—a great “date movie” has finally arrived, and it’s filled with spirit and spirits, some living and some not quite sure.


Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon) is an emergency room resident at a busy hospital, leaving her no time for a personal life. Copyright © 2005 Dreamworks
Just Like Heaven is a supernatural, comic romance that is reminiscent of a long list of earlier films where ghosts hob-knob and even fall in love with the living. Echoes of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Beetlejuice, Ghost, All of Me and many others abound. But this is no more a criticism than to say a new, well-made western resembles High Noon. Just Like Heaven borrows from these earlier films, but borrows well, adding ample clever touches, witty banter and star chemistry to genuinely enchant.

Witherspoon plays Elizabeth Martinson, a young emergency room doctor in San Francisco, who has a unique problem—there seems to be a strange man living in her apartment. Ruffalo plays David Abbott, a young landscape artist, with an unheard of opportunity—he’s found an affordable apartment in San Francisco with a beautiful view. There is only one problem—his furnished apartment has also come with an irate woman who appears and disappears at will, demanding that David vacate her apartment. So begins an odd-couple romance between the scruffy David and the exacting Elizabeth. They are two lost souls flung together by prime real estate. He is escaping the grief of his wife’s sudden death, and she suffers from amnesia and has the disconcerting ability to walk through walls and appear in mirrors.


Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon) and David (Mark Ruffalo) begin to share more about each other's lives. Copyright © 2005 Dreamworks
Both David and Elizabeth refuse to budge and are left with two choices—either he is crazy, as she claims, or she is really a ghost, trapped somewhere between this life and the next (and humorously obsessed with him not using a coaster under his beer). But along the way, a third choice develops: Elizabeth may not really be dead, but is most certainly running out of time. Something else develops as well—a growing bond and the feeling that their being together is not just chance, but destiny.

Just Like Heaven never sets out to present a particular theological view of the afterlife. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about two people who are closed-off to joy. David is haunted by heartache as well as Elizabeth. The loss of his wife of two years has left David an emotional recluse, a joyless shrunken soul unwilling to risk loving or engaging in life again. Elizabeth is a workaholic, so intent on advancing in the ER that 26-hour work shifts seem short. Her private life is virtually non-existent. In a most revealing scene, David and Elizabeth visit the other tenants in her building to explore her past. To their dismay, no one remembers her. She has left no trace, essentially having lived among them as a ghost—even when she was alive.

 
Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon) and David (Mark Ruffalo) have fallen in love, despite existing in two different worlds. Copyright © 2005 Dreamworks
As they unravel the mystery of Elizabeth’s spectral existence, they also explore the depths of their wounded souls. Their bond turns to love and a deep understanding that loneliness is their biggest problem. David lost his companion, and Elizabeth never took the time to find one. They can finally be with their soul mate, if they can only get in the same plane of existence. In the end, love, a little sacrifice, and the courage to risk losing the thing you want to save it bring us to the expected, but very satisfying ending.

While only hinting at deeper subjects like the nature of the spirit, the right to life and the role of predestination, Just Like Heaven hits a bulls eye with its main subject—living a life of joy. Life is a blessing, a gift to be shared and treasured. Sometimes we need to experience sadness to appreciate and embrace joy fully. At the start of the film, Elizabeth, caught in a hectic workday, daydreams and imagines herself in a beautiful garden, a place of peace and utter joy. The garden image resonates throughout the film, a potent reminder of the Creator who looked down on creation and declared it good.

Gregg Tubbs is a freelance writer living in Columbia, Md.

This review was developed by UMC.org, the official online ministry of The United Methodist Church.

Study Questions

  • Both Elizabeth and David undergo an extreme experience of loss before learning what was truly important in their lives. Why is it often the case that we must go through such an experience before we fully appreciate all that we have?
  • In what ways are both Elizabeth and David dead to life?
  • What helps David and Elizabeth reconnect emotionally with other persons and regain their joy in living?
  • What symbolism do you see in Elizabeth’s imaginary garden?
  • Did you agree with Elizabeth’s sister’s decision to end life-support? Why or why not?
  • How do ghosts fit into your faith? Do you believe in them? Why or why not?
  • Do you believe in fate? How does this coexist with free will?
  • What do you think the title Just Like Heaven means?
  • Which character did you identify with the most? Elizabeth or David? Why?
  • What do you think would have happened to Elizabeth if David had not rescued her?

Group Activities

Imagine a Place: In the film, Elizabeth daydreams and imagines she is in a beautiful, peaceful garden—her refuge from the stress and bustle of the hospital. Ask the members of your group to close their eyes and imagine their own beautiful, peaceful place. This can be a real place or an imaginary one. After a few minutes, go around the room and ask them to describe their peaceful place, share what they like about it, and explain why it is significant to them. Next, ask them to close their eyes again and imagine they are in a place that makes them feel close to God. Again, share and discuss. Did anyone imagine the same place as the first time? How many imagined a place other than a church? Did any of their places include persons who are important to them?

Guessing Game: Hollywood has a long tradition of producing movies that portray the supernatural—heaven, spirits, ghosts and angels. Have your group play a guessing game to see if they can guess the names of some of these movies. Write the names of the movies from the list below on slips of paper and put them in a shoebox or bowl. Have your group members take turns drawing a name from the box and giving clues to the rest of the group, so they can guess the movie. They can give clues by describing the movie, but cannot use words in the title or the names of characters or actors. They can also draw pictures, pantomime, sing songs or even quote famous lines from the movie. Once you are done, discuss popular Hollywood myths about the afterlife such as becoming an angel after death or angels “earning their wings.” What other stereotypical views of the afterlife are commonly depicted in movies?

Movie list:

  • Beetlejuice
  • The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
  • It’s a Wonderful Life
  • Ghost
  • Ghostbusters
  • Casper (movie or cartoon character)
  • Michael
  • The Exorcist
  • The Bishop’s Wife (or the remake The Preacher’s Wife)
  • All of Me
  • The Time of their Lives (Abbott & Costello)
  • The Prophecy
  • The Sixth Sense
  • What Dreams May Come
  • The Canterbury Ghost

Biblical Ghost Stories : Engage in a group discussion of ghosts and spirits as they are portrayed in the Bible. Are ghosts and the afterlife a dominant theme in the Bible? What does the Bible say about contacting the dead? How did spirits factor into the work of Jesus? From what we read in the Bible, can we assume ancient people believed in ghost? Recommended passages for reading: Matthew 14:26, Luke 24:37-39, Deuteronomy 18:10-12, Mark 1:21-27, Luke 9:28-43.

Resources
Official Just Like Heaven Web site

Theatrical Trailer
QuickTime