Just Like Heaven

Just Like Heaven has a great cast which includes Mark Ruffalo and Jon Heder.

Herald rating: ***

Reese Witherspoon features in two films hitting our screens this summer, Just Like Heaven and the Johnny Cash story, Walk the Line. If I had to recommend one of them, it wouldn't be this one.

But if you're in the mood for some light Hollywood entertainment in the form of a metaphysical romantic comedy, then Just Like Heaven should be just the ticket.

Indie film favourite Mark Ruffalo stars as heartbroken San Francisco architect David, who has just moved into a new apartment.

Shortly after moving in, he discovers he has a house guest, a control freak called Elizabeth who claims the apartment is hers. It quickly becomes apparent that Elizabeth isn't quite right; that she's more of a spirit than a human being, and for some reason David is the only one that can see her.

While Elizabeth drives David mad, he gets in every spirit banisher he can find but Elizabeth is stubborn and she's not going anywhere.

Positive she's not actually dead, Elizabeth convinces David to help her discover who she is and where her physical body might be.

Witherspoon and Ruffalo are delightful together as they uncover Elizabeth's workaholic past, and Elizabeth encourages David to start looking after himself. While the two of them infuriate each other and can't understand why they have been brought together, we know it's so they can both have a second chance to make the most out of life.

The film starts out with promise. There's an initial twist that adds something new to this familiar ghost love story, and a great cast you feel might be able to create some magic - especially when Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder turns up as a gifted spirit reader. But no matter how well Ruffalo manages to pull off the "talking to himself gags", once that initial twist is revealed the film becomes predictable and suffocates under cheesy Hollywood moments.

If you're after a laugh, you'll get one, but this is a film for those who enjoy knowing where their movie is going.

CAST: Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, Jon Heder
DIRECTOR: Mark Waters
RUNNING TIME: 95 mins
RATING: PG, contains sexual references
SCREENING: Village and Hoyts cinemas