Warren Beatty is the only person to twice score Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay for the same film. He did it in 1978 with "Heaven Can Wait" and again in 1981 for "Reds." I can understand "Reds" -- after all, that was a big, historical epic that carried a mantle of importance if nothing else. But what on earth possessed the Academy to go so ga-ga over this slight and not even very good remake of "Here Comes Mr. Jordan?" I'm not a big fan of the original, so it's not like I was unfairly comparing this film to that one. On its own terms, "Heaven Can Wait" is moderately entertaining, but the screenplay is really muddled, and the ending is rushed and confusing. I don't care that they were boyfriend and girlfriend in real life, but Beatty and Julie Christie don't have any chemistry. And Dyan Cannon and Charles Grodin, as the film's comic relief, wear out their welcome early on with their one-note caricatures.The film inexplicably won an Oscar for Art Direction in a year that saw it go up against "The Wiz," which is a terrible movie but has terrific production design. In addition to that and Beatty's quartet of nominations, the film also received nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Jack Warden, as the James Gleason character, who's probably the best thing about the movie though that isn't saying much), Best Supporting Actress (Dyan Cannon, and you already know my thoughts about her), Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score.Grade: C

Well-Well-Well - When it comes down to totally brain-dead Rom/Coms - I'd definitely say that 1978's "Heaven Can Wait" makes 1972's "What;s Up, Doc?" look worthy of an Oscar by comparison. It really does.And, yes - I do fully realize that this humourless, dumber-than-dumb Fantasy/Comedy/Romance was, indeed, a total product of its time.... But, with that aside....When it came to the likes of "bungling" angels (Spare me!) and cooking up yet another preposterous scheme for Joe and Betty to meet up again, and again, and again (ho-hum!) - I was nearly at my patience end with this picture's total incompetence at being unable to deliver a story that came anywhere near to being a really amusing and truly satisfying "Screwball" comedy.Oh, yeah - By the way - Speaking about actor, Warren Beatty - Since he was this film's co-director/producer/writer - I put full blame on him for this one's total crap-factor. I really do.

Films like this used to get made a lot. It was mildly heavy here and there, but it was a kind of comedy that dealt into the "what if hereafter" genre. Beatty stars as a would all-star quarterback who is given a setback (of sorts). Mason heads up a small team of "helpers" who try to put him back on track, only they wind up screwing things up in an even bigger way.Things sort of work out, but to find out how you have to see the film. Julie Christie, Dyane Cannon, Jack Warden and Charles Grodin create an all star cast to bring to us the tale of a man who is waiting for the idiots who put him in his predicament the okay to move on.It's a kind of rebirth story, only Beatty's Joe Pendleton doesn't have any issues regarding his health or social stature. He is truly the victim of poor circumstance. This is a somewhat slow paced adult comedy. The jokes aren't fired at you from all quarters. The film actually lets you have some time to digest what is happening so you can better absorb and appreciate the situation presented.To me this is an adult film meant to be enjoyed by mature people. And by that I don't mean sex. I mean this is old fashioned film making telling a kind of old fashioned story of a man getting a second chance. You don't see films like this much anymore. Or rather all of the serious adult films these days are low budget artistic efforts, about affairs, or are filled with teenage raunch humor; i.e. kids and adults who stayed kids enjoy the big budget stuff these days. "Heaven Can Wait" was meant for a different audience for a different time. I miss both that kind of film making and that kind of audience. They will never return at this rate, but one can always hope.I'll reserve judgment on the personalities involved in this film. Each has their own set of problems in the limelight. But the art they've created here is worthy of viewing.Enjoy.

I finally saw the last of the five Oscar-nominated male leading performances from 1978, and although I'm still not sure about who deserved to win, and why Brad Davis wasn't even nominated for his performance in "Midnight Express", I admit that something deeply touched me in Warren Beatty's performance as Joe Pendleton, a Rams quarterback whose life was prematurely taken in a road accident. I don't know if it's in the eyes, or in the way he looked so young despite his 40's, but the sweetness and gentleness of his character made the film.Having only watched the remake with Robert Downey Jr., I thought Pendleton would reincarnate as a person and then realize who he was, while Beatty remains the same person, only using bodies as convenient media for his own personality, which is ethically acceptable, since all the bodies he takes would have been 'dead' otherwise. Joe only occupies bodies as settings for his own persona, illustrating the eternal philosophical connection between the body and the spirit. Now, I can't wait to see the original version by Ernst Lubitsch, with its evocative title : "Here Comes Mr. Jordan"."Heaven Can Wait" made me wonder: how I would react from the announcement of my own death? I guess more than from the loss of people I love, I would be sadder because of all the things I would never have the possibility to do again, to have totally annihilated my chances to be a specific person, to be whatever I wanted to be, and never having the chance to be something else. For Joe, it's the same disbelief tainted with a sort of child-like optimism, he's dead yet still believes he has a chance to achieve his only dream: playing in the Super Bowl. Joe's personality is the emotional core of the film as it embodies our personal vision of happiness: to be what we plan to be. It's all about our plans, and "Heaven Can Wait" tackles this issue with the constant idea that everything that is done is determined by fate, a plan made by an almighty entity.The film's most fascinating aspects lie between this incertitude of what is life and death, what is determined and what is natural, and Beatty's tactful direction never takes its message about life and death in a too depressing tone, keeping more in the tradition of Lubitch and Capra's films, and the hero's child-like attitude is compensated by the domineering presence of James Mason as a suave and comprehensive Head Executive aware of the bureaucratic mistakes that accidentally took his life. This point is crucial because it explains why I used the expression 'life was taken' instead of 'killed' and why Joe is given a second chance; he wasn't meant to be dead. And Joe is so good-hearted that he'll use this occasion to act positively, by taking the body of Mr. Farnsworth, an eccentric billionaire and controversial figure of the industrial world, a man whose life is targeted by his associate and wife, Charles Grodin and the Oscar-nominated Dyan Cannon, in irresistible comical performances.From a meaningful introspection in the concept of life and death, the film flirts with pure comedy through the switched-bodies formulas, and allows Beatty to shine as an altruistic person who'll almost redeem Fansworth for the sake of community, and whose only selfish motive would serve his dream to play on the Superbowl. This opens the gate to the two most poignant aspects of the story, the beautiful friendship with Corkle, Jack Warden as his coach and the growing romance with Julie Christie as one of Farnsworth's detractor, a British ecologist who'll be touched by the amount of generosity he'll suddenly display. Again, the on-screen chemistry between Beatty and Christie is perfect and the romantic bond growing between them is tactfully handled by a subtle and nuanced direction, combined with the villainous pair of Grodin and Cannon.But more than a romance, and a fantasy, the film also work as a great Sport film. In a interesting business meeting scene, Joe states his personal vision by comparing business with what he know best: football. This is crucial as it highlights his most endearing virtue: fair play. Joe doesn't do good actions because it's good but because it's fair, as it was fair that he would be allowed a second chance. Joe's second chance was also Mr. Farnsworth's second chance and then Tom Garrett's, one of his team-mates, if life is not to be taken for granted, neither is death. Fairness is the driver of the film, and something that elevate it beyond the level of a simple comedy, which makes us accept the idea that Farnsworth had to die, and that Joe couldn't live forever with his spirit in another body.This leads to a heartbreaking scene where the only one who knew Joe's secret, his buddy Corkle, realizes that Joe's spirit vanished, leaving him alone again with his souvenirs and his clarinet, Jack Warden almost made me cry and I'm glad his performance was recognized by the Academy. Then, Joe as Tom meets Julie Christie again, and he wonders if they haven't met. This very moment echoes a previous scene where he was aware that his days in Farnsworth's body were numbered, and then told her that she might find him somewhere in another form, and the ending gives a subtle idea of what the plan is about, and why sometimes, we can't help but having a feeling of déjà vu, or of having lived some situation in different eras.In a way, "Heaven Can Wait"'s ending is bittersweet because we must face the death of Joe's spirit, the only price for him to play in the Super Bowl. But I'm glad the film ended with the perfect touch, by leaving some hints that his gentle spirit didn't entirely disappear, in all fairness