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What’s the Story?

Reviewed by Cynthia Fuchs

Workaholic doctor Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon) is slightly yearning; her friends have relationships, her sister Abby (Dina Waters) has two adorable daughters, and yet, Elizabeth can't seem to develop a life outside work. One night, she crashes into a truck; shortly afterwards, her apartment is rented by lonely, sensitive, landscape designer David (Mark Ruffalo). The only issue for this perfect guy is that he's mourning a lost wife, and so meeting the seeming ghost of Elizabeth gives him a built-in friend. As time goes on it becomes clear that they're made for each other, save for the small obstacle of her seeming deadness. David gets encouragement when an occult bookstore clerk (Jon Heder) suggests that for a spirit, she's very "alive," that is, caught between death and life.

Is It Any Good?

3

A Sleeping Beauty story refashioned to combine upbeat rom-com conventions and ER-lite medical-ethical dilemmas, JUST LIKE HEAVEN poses a grim question: should a very nice young mother of two pull the life-support plug on her sister after three months of coma? It's a preposterous idea to cram into a romance.

And, while director Mark Waters is working with the completely charming and mostly convincing Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, even this talented trio can't make this creepy perfect-ghost-girl idea go away. That doesn't mean they don't try.

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