(Talk about ending up going to the Great Football Field In The Sky…)
CAST: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, James Mason, Buck Henry, Charles Grodin, Dyan Cannon.
DIRECTOR: Warren Beatty, Buck Henry.
WARNING: Some SPOILER and one misplaced athletic soul straight ahead.
FAVORITE OF: Family
IN A NUTSHELL: Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty) is the quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams. All he wants is to play in one more SuperBowl. Unfortunately, Big Daddy G. upstairs (AKA God played by James Mason) decides Joe’s time on earth is up and has him get into an accident. Unfortunately, it turns out even Big Daddy G. makes mistakes: it appears Joe had another 50 years to live. Ooops. Because his original body was cremated, they have to put Joe’s soul in someone else’s body. In this case, a recently-murdered billionaire who was apparently destroying the Earth with his industrial activities. Suddenly, Joe finds himself the target of angry ecologists, a murderous wife (Dyan Cannon), and a hot British scientist (Julie Christie). Oh, and he also wants to play football again, so he buys the Los Angeles Rams with his new money. Still with me? Good. Because I got lost five sentences ago. Now we’re both lost.
WHY SHE LOVES IT: Two words: Warren. Beatty. Me, I can take him or leave him. But for me, it’s Julie Christie who makes this movie. Now that’s someone unforgettable. The film itself is a cute, clever remake of HERE COMES MR. JORDAN, and has a surprisingly haunting sweetness to it. Definitely a keeper. Drives home the message to live life to the fullest right now. Laugh now. Love now. Live now.
