1991 Directed by Albert Brooks
Is there love after death? After he dies suddenly, the hapless advertising executive Daniel Miller finds himself in Judgment City, a gleaming way station where the newly deceased must prove they lived a life of sufficient courage to advance in their journey through the universe. As the self-doubting Daniel struggles to make his case, a budding relationship with the uninhibited Julia offers him a chance to finally feel alive.
Albert Brooks Meryl Streep Rip Torn Lee Grant Michael Durrell James Eckhouse Gary Beach Julie Cobb Peter Schuck Time Winters Sharlie Stuart Beth Black Clayton Norcross Jim McKrell Wil Albert Sage Allen Mary Pat Gleason Maxine Elliott Hicks Marilyn Rockafellow Roger Behr Art Frankel Ernie Brown George Wallace Lillian Lehman Raffi Di Blasio Kristopher Kent Hill Eric Ehasz Matthew Scharch S. Scott Bullock Show All…
Dane A. Davis John Kwiatkowski Tom Hammond Joan Rowe Wayne Artman Gregg Barbanell Tom E. Dahl Thomas Causey Franklin Jones Jr. Valerie Davidson
El cielo... próximamente, Matkalla taivaaseen, C'est ma mort après tout!, Visa al paraíso, Um Visto Para o Céu, Rendez-vous au paradis, Rendezvous im Jenseits, Υπερασπίζοντας τη Ζωή μας, Tranzit a Mindenhatóhoz, Prossima fermata: paradiso, あなたの死後にご用心！, W obronie życia, Em Defesa da Vida, Защищая твою жизнь, Himlen tur eller retur?, Заради іншого життя, Chraň si svůj život, Да защитиш живота си, Un judici celestial, Defending Your Life: El Cielo... próximamente, Rendez-vous au Paradis, נחיה ונאהב, Tranzit a mindenhatóhoz, დაიცავი შენი სიცოცხლე, 영혼의 사랑, Um Visto para o Céu, Hayat Savunmaya Değer, Tòa Án Kiếp Sau, 阴阳界生死恋, 陰陽界生死戀
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I love Brooks's non-religious reimagining of the afterlife as a place where you're measured by fulfilled potential and not just "good person vs. bad person", but I think the depiction of that idea gets sloppy once they bust out things like "you should've punched that child" or "you bought a bad car, idiot" as evidence on the scale of said potential! Movie kinda makes no sense. Romance makes absolutely no sense. Only thing that really makes sense is someone screaming "OH MY GOD" upon seeing Shirley MacLaine, that I totally get.
Definitely something interesting in the roots of this thing, though. Might make for a fun network television show. Could go four seasons with it, maybe tackle some interesting philosophical ideas about goodness and eternal life. Would be rad if I was able to write on it for one season but still get credit from people as if I was even a tiny factor in the show's success.
From REAL LIFE through at least this film, Albert Brooks' movies depict a kind of post-Altamont fallout in which the Boomer ethos takes hold but only corrupts the status quo instead of overthrowing it. Me Generation solipsism births REAL LIFE's capitalistic and fame-seeking selling of the self for air-time. MODERN ROMANCE attempts to work out its titular concept by scrutinizing how that same narcissism and a social awareness informed by simple-minded emotional utopias sold on TV affects the unpredictability and demands of a relationship. LOST IN AMERICA flat-out rewrites Boomer touchstone EASY RIDER from a symbol of generational promise to the final word on its failure to launch.
DEFENDING YOUR LIFE suggests that even the afterlife isn't safe from Boomer-fication.…
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Meryl Streep is the epitome of charming in this, and Albert Brooks compliments her with such effortless comedic wit and understated romance. It's impossible to watch Defending Your Life and not have a good time. The picturesque scope of Judgment City, with clean lines and angles of modern flair coupled with modest, opulent interiors, is the kind of production design that will forever exist as a fantasy world, but Brooks' authenticity keeps it grounded.
very witty and formally ambitious romantic comedy where the afterlife is a pristine bureaucratic purgatory of hotels, restaurants, and offices, and your entire existence is reduced to a series of scenes that can be projected and manipulated to tell a story. it’s the original damn my life a movie and the big, romantically cathartic gesture comes when brooks finally realizes that, stops watching and takes command over it. streep slurping on a piece of linguini for an entire minute is the kind of thing that made brooks a genius and god i miss rip torn, he could be such a warm presence when he wanted to be.
nothing gives me more anxiety than the thought of my fate being decided based on how much i anxiety i had when i die!!
albert brooks needs to calm down and let meryl streep enjoy her big plate of pasta with an endless noodle & thank the kind waiter for bringing him two giant boxes of pies
simple conclusions drawn from this:
1. in this life i’m using at most 1.5% of my brain
2. meryl streep has never been more endearing and charming than in this... and that IS including mamma mia
3. it is enough to be a charming and smart comedy with a touch of romance that is neither grand nor overstated... just lovely and warm
4. one day of my life for which i surely would be judged was in 1st grade when i thought i saw my older friend mariah from behind and walked up to hug her, only to realize it was not, in fact, mariah, but another 3rd grader who was thoroughly confused by me hugging her... not only did i hug her, i hugged her AGAIN realizing my mistake and said something like “have another!” before running away to cry :)
5. i’ve already recommended this to three people so consider this me recommending it to you now
My favourite depiction of the afterlife, as a rather drab bureaucratic place of sensual delight mingled with baffling lack of pertinent detail. It's a secular person's dream! Brooks and Streep are at their best; their romance is unfussy, cleverly played, and deeply affecting. With every year that passes, Brooks' work looks better and better.
Top 5 comedy of all time for me.
Number one Albert Brooks.
It’s rare a film comes along this light, funny and savvy that actually makes the audience come away smarter, nicer and more inclined to be a better person.
Torn and Streep are revelations.
I wonder how many people on their deathbed look forward to all you can eat sushi.
Masterpiece.
So glad Criterion is finally catching up with MY significant film choices…
