If I were to describe this film in one sentence it would be: a typical Hollywood after death comedy that makes Mormonism look interesting. It is tempting to leave it at that but I will not. Heart and Soul is about four people who are killed in a bus accident in 1959 after the bus driver drives off of a bridge while perving on a woman in the car next to him. The four people on the bus are trapped around a baby who is born at that instant and travel around with him until he is grown up. Then one day the bus comes along and the four ghosts suddenly realise that they are meant to fulfil their unfulfilled dreams and thus have a second chance at life. Thus they must convince the baby, who is now an adult, a yuppie, and a snob, to help them.Now, the theologically sickening things about this film. First, everybody goes to heaven, no matter what they do. If they are bad, they have to do penance, such as driving a bus to pick up dead people, but they still all end up in heaven. There is no God or judgement, and as such it is a fantasy, and atheistic view of the after life. God exists but he is a nice cuddly person that lets us do what we want, and if we do something that is a bit bad, we suffer a little punishment, but generally hell does not exist.What is wrong with that? Well the fact is that I do believe in hell and in a God that is not only interventionist, but is actually sickened by the evil that we do. Without hell there is no judgement and without judgement everybody, no matter how evil they are, get away with what they did wrong. This is covered by the idea of purgatory. This is okay, but theologically incorrect. The bible says we are either for or against God, there is no halfway point, which is purgatory. If we ignore God then God will disown us. The second wrong this here is that God is generally a tolerant guy. God is far from tolerant. He is not at all tolerant with people rebelling against him in the same way that a government is not tolerant of people rebelling against them. For those that follow him, upon them he showers many blessings (though not necessarily in this life). For those who do not follow him with, he ejects from his kingdom, which a king has a right to do, and thus they must suffer for eternity. God is the rightful king. He created the universe and thus rules over it. To rebel God against the rightful king earns his anger, which a king has a right to do. This might seem harsh, but the truth is that God showered immense blessings on us in the beginning in the Garden of Eden and we turned from him by disobeying his one simple commandment: do not eat from the fruit in the middle of the garden.This movie also implies that we have a second chance if we die. We have none. When we die, all unfulfilled things remain unfulfilled. The only fulfilling thing in life is becoming a Christian because nothing else lasts after death. The second most fulfilling thing is to see others become Christians, and to build them up for that also lasts after death. Everything else will not come beyond death.

The concept isn't exactly new, but the cast is great. Robert Downing Jr is really good at being possessed by a lady among a few other characters. It's a sweet movie and the ending is corny but the process is quite adorable… Although if you really think about it, it is a bit creepy. But good thing he was possessed by good people.I wish that he didn't turn out to be such a douche bag when he grew up. On a rainy day, when you are feeling down or in the mood for some good old happy feeling pick-me-uppers. The unresolved life issues where a bit on the nose, but with something just fun.:D

My original comment on this was deleted. As with the characters in the movie, this gives me a second chance.I admit that I am an admirer of Downey. He is one of our few actors that can do what I call folded acting: a self-awareness that communicates itself. This is just a kind of language of mental mathematics — one that I believe makes people more susceptible to addictive behavior. This film was done right after the rather amazing "Chaplin," but before it was released. I think it is pretty effective writing and I will recommend it on that score.But there are two scenes that really worked for me. One is the setup, the other the payoff. The setup is the six year old Downey sings in the bathroom with his four ghost friends. It is 1965 and we are singing "walk like a man," already an iconic song. The walls reverberate like schoolboy toilet walls do — or used to when they were 100% tile and urinals were lined up. It has energy. The boy actor is terrific. The joke at the time is a nun looks in and sees and hears only the boy. Mildly funny. Mildly endearing.Now move forward to later when the adult Downey re-encounters the ghosts. He has just done something companionable and likes hanging out. They are crossing Post street in San Francisco — a regular street. They break out into this song. The whole thing lasts only a minute or so before being interrupted by an iconic bus to heaven. But watch the ensemble do their strutting to the song, just as if they were still stuck in 1963, when the song appeared... except for Downey. Look at what he does here, hands in pockets singing the lead. When I saw this in 1993, I knew this man would be important. This 20 or 30 seconds. It is because the context is all about inhabiting bodies and carrying selves. He does the "oh gosh, now I'm someone else," bit with awareness of both beings. In this scene, he is three persons: the child, the adult, the actor. He spoke about this at the time. Here you can see virtually everything he brought to "Tropic Thunder."Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

*Heart And SPOILERS* Four people (Charles Grodin, Alfre Woodard, Tom Sizemore and Kyra Sedgwick) die in a bus accident at the same time a little boy, Thomas, is born.The ghosts become his not-so-imaginary friends, but have to leave him (while keeping a careful eye on him) for his own good.We flashforward to a few years later; the now grown up Thomas (Robert Downey Jr.) is an uptight, closed off young man who is stuck in a work he doesn't actually like and has problems with his girlfriend (Elizabeth Shue).And if that wasn't enough, he finds he has to help his ghost friends, because they've been called up to Heaven and must put their unsolved problems to rest.Will Thomas be able to help them all? I rewatched 'Heart And Souls' for the first time in a while, and I realized it's even better than I remembered; nicely paced, with funny jokes, touching moments and a whole sincerity to it that makes this movie a real treat.It's perfect to watch with the kids and alone.Heart And Souls: 8/10.