Made in Heaven (1987)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Alan Rudolph

Writers:

Bruce A. Evans (written by)
Raynold Gideon (written by)

Release Date:

6 November 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy

Tagline:

12,000 babies will be born in the United States today. Two will already have fallen in love.

Plot:

After being bumped by his girlfriend, a boy runs away to California. But he ends up in heaven because he dies after trying to help a family from drowning in a river. In heaven he'll meet a beautiful girl, who has never reincarnated before.

Plot Keywords:

Heaven | Love | Angel | Fairy Tale | Reincarnation

Cast

Timothy Hutton	...	Mike Shea / Elmo Barnett
Kelly McGillis	...	Annie Packert / Ally Chandler
Maureen Stapleton	...	Aunt Lisa
Ann Wedgeworth	...	Annette Shea
James Gammon	...	Steve Shea
Mare Winningham	...	Brenda Carlucci
Don Murray	...	Ben Chandler
Tim Daly	...	Tom Donnelly (as Timothy Daly)
David Rasche	...	Donald Sumner
Amanda Plummer	...	Wiley Foxx
Willard E. Pugh	...	Guy Blanchard / Brian Dalton (as Willard Pugh)
Vyto Ruginis	...	Lyman McCray
Neil Young	...	Truck driver
Tom Petty	...	Stanky
Ric Ocasek	...	Shark

Runtime:

Brazil:102 min | USA:103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Finland:K-10 | USA:PG | West Germany:6 | Argentina:13 | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Georgia, USA

Company:

Lorimar Film Entertainment

Trivia:

Cameo: [Debra Winger]Emmert, the apparently male entity who "runs things" in heaven.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Mike is driving around town, drinking and smoking, he tosses his cigarette out of the window just before he swerves and spins to avoid a car coming straight towards him. In the next shot, he is holding the same cigarette.

Quotes:

Emmett: Remember Heaven, Elmo? All you have to do is think about where you want to be and you're there.

Movie Connections:

Features Notorious (1946)

Soundtrack:

Same Time, Another Place

It's amazing what I will watch when I can't fall asleep

Having been unable to sleep last night, I watched Made in Heaven on cable TV. It's amazing what I will watch when I can't fall asleep! Made in Heaven is is so cute and precious that I'm surprised that I didn't wake up with diabetes.

This film started with the decent premise that a man who died young and heroically should go directly to heaven, where he falls in love with a woman who is a "new soul" and has never lived on earth. Drawing on any religious beliefs that may conveniently move the plot forward, the writers send the woman to earth to be born into an American family in the 1950's. The young man, heartbroken, asks Emmett (Debra Winger in drag and totally bizarre), the guy who runs heaven (but not God) to send the young man back to earth to find his love. Emmett sends the young man to be born as Elmo, and gives him until his 30th birthday to find his true love or forever lose her. From this point forward, the plot degenerates into a loose collection of misadventures for both Elmo and his love, culminating the the typical Hollywood "cute" meeting on Elmo's 30th birthday.

Participating in the misadventures are a string of actors, writers, musicians, cartoonists, and probably the director's dentist, none of whom add anything except a strange voyeuristic quality to the movie. Made in Heaven is yet another example of Hollywood run amok and writers in search of an editor. What could have been a rather charming little fantasy becomes an exercise in guessing who is playing the weird characters parading across the screen, while wondering what they are doing in the movie in the first place.