This movie fails on so many levels. First, it is not at all as advertised. The description claimed it was a story about a man (Eddie) dying and meeting in Heaven five people who show him how he affected their lives. There is an implication it is uplifting. This is not true. Instead it is a depressing feel-bad movie about a man who dies and meets in Heaven five people who preach at him and show him their own deaths, and in two notable cases, how Eddie caused those deaths. The guy goes through the movie feeling worse and worse about himself until in the last minute the movie does a complete turnaround and you get about 5 seconds of "feel-good" instead of the feel-bad, but it's contrived and absurd. For the most part, this movie is an obnoxious, preachy guilt trip. It is also horrifically overly sentimental and smug in its sentimentality. You can tell the idiot who wrote the book was pretty much demanding a fistful of awards for his pretentious drek.
The stories are ridiculous and contrived. They make more sense as parodies of bad Lifetime movie plots and reading reviews of it I see that it was, indeed, made for TV. At least that means no one actually spent money on gas or theater tickets for it. I kind of hate the word bathos, but this is one case where it is the only word that makes any sense as a description. And there are a couple of scenes that were clearly designed as sucker punches.
The editing is choppy, especially the sound. I don't think this was done for effect, as it doesn't make sense that way. The art direction is acceptable, as are the costumes and sets. However the director doesn't really make very good use of the carnival/amusement park setting.
The acting is mostly horrible, but given the bad script that may have been somewhat inescapable. On the plus side, Jeff Daniels and Callum Keith Rennie both do a fairly creditable job in a very small role and a rather important role respectively. However, Daniels's character does join the ranks of the arrogant and preachy at times. Rennie's, on the other hand, is a jerk but at least he plays the part fairly cleanly. On the very bad side, Jon Voight's pathetic, miserable Eddie makes no sense whatsoever. There is a complete disconnect between the character and the events of his life. And the scene where he plays Eddie forgiving his father made me cringe with extreme embarrassment for him. It should have been sweet and touching. Instead it is laughable. Then on the extremely horrible side we have Ellen Burnstyn. I do not think I have ever been quite so disappointed in an actress. She's usually wonderful, but in this turkey she's completely foul. She comes off as smug, arrogant and patronizing. Her narration is like nails scratching a chalkboard.
The acting is mostly awful, the script is something the writer should be horribly ashamed of, and the advertising for it is flat out false and misleading. I usually like uplifting movies, so the awfulness of this thing was that much more disappointing.
In summary: Worst movie I've seen in years.
The stories are ridiculous and contrived. They make more sense as parodies of bad Lifetime movie plots and reading reviews of it I see that it was, indeed, made for TV. At least that means no one actually spent money on gas or theater tickets for it. I kind of hate the word bathos, but this is one case where it is the only word that makes any sense as a description. And there are a couple of scenes that were clearly designed as sucker punches.
The editing is choppy, especially the sound. I don't think this was done for effect, as it doesn't make sense that way. The art direction is acceptable, as are the costumes and sets. However the director doesn't really make very good use of the carnival/amusement park setting.
The acting is mostly horrible, but given the bad script that may have been somewhat inescapable. On the plus side, Jeff Daniels and Callum Keith Rennie both do a fairly creditable job in a very small role and a rather important role respectively. However, Daniels's character does join the ranks of the arrogant and preachy at times. Rennie's, on the other hand, is a jerk but at least he plays the part fairly cleanly. On the very bad side, Jon Voight's pathetic, miserable Eddie makes no sense whatsoever. There is a complete disconnect between the character and the events of his life. And the scene where he plays Eddie forgiving his father made me cringe with extreme embarrassment for him. It should have been sweet and touching. Instead it is laughable. Then on the extremely horrible side we have Ellen Burnstyn. I do not think I have ever been quite so disappointed in an actress. She's usually wonderful, but in this turkey she's completely foul. She comes off as smug, arrogant and patronizing. Her narration is like nails scratching a chalkboard.
The acting is mostly awful, the script is something the writer should be horribly ashamed of, and the advertising for it is flat out false and misleading. I usually like uplifting movies, so the awfulness of this thing was that much more disappointing.
In summary: Worst movie I've seen in years.