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He settles for Elizabeth's former pad, which her family is renting out just in case she ever wakes up.
After a night of lonely, heavy drinking, David encounters Elizabeth's ghost, who is furious at the sight of a new roommate. But surprise, surprise -- 30 minutes into the plot, the two get used to each other.
Like any other human-ghost relationship, there's obviously a lot to overcome to be together and many details the director must consider to make that relationship even slightly believable.
Mark Waters, director of the glorious Mean Girls, lets these details slide, and for the sake of mindless entertainment, he expects the audience to do the same. However, some of us are more perceptive than Hollywood would like to admit.
Although Elizabeth walks though tables, can't pick up the house phone and freely enters human bodies to control their movements, she also can lie in bed while comfortably imprinting the covers.
Something doesn't quite add up in these situation.
The drama and powerful romance that can be found between the real and the spiritual -- such as in 1990's Ghost -- is non-existent in this story of a corny love affair.
The night before Elizabeth's unconscious body is supposed to be taken off life-support (therefore diminishing the remaining spirit); David asks her what she would like to do for her last night on Earth.
Things heat up for about two seconds, and just as the audience would expect a bizarre love-making scene, the two characters end up just lying in bed -- palms together as light omits from their connection, turning this almost magic moment into one of the worst scenes in the movie.
Apparently, this is when the couple decides they're in love, sparking a new determination to keep Elizabeth's body alive -- and the trek to do so is rather ridiculous.
Unfortunately, Casper, the film we all know and love about the friendly ghost, is a lot more believable than the farfetched plot of Just Like Heaven.
I have a feeling that in this unsuccessful take on the usual girl-meets-guy story, a paycheck coerced Witherspoon away from her better judgement and some of her best acting, previously seen in Election and Cruel Intentions.
But not all romantic comedies have to be like this.
Witherspoon acted superbly in the recent remake of one of the most entertaining and classic romantic comedy plays to date, The Importance of Being Earnest, which was released in 2002.
The actors' abilities are undoubted in Heaven, but the creativity and thought in the screenplay does not satisfy their talent -- especially the talent of Napoleon Dynamite star Jon Heder, who plays David's spiritually connected mentor. Heder's standout performance in Napoleon Dynamite is not apparent in this movie at all and his fans will probably walk away unsatisfied
Some will laugh and very few will cry, but most will send this flick out of mind and back to heaven shortly after leaving the theater.
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