Heart and Souls (1993)

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Surprisingly deep portrayals for a comedy movie by a stellar cast. Well written and well put together. Nice special effects that aren't overwhelming but complementary of the production. One of my favorites. A good family movie one that everyone should be able to watch together comfortably. You will Enjoy.

Am a sucker for a good ghost story and this one pretty much works. Plot holes big enough for even me to notice but it's a fantasy movie about ghosts inhabiting the body of a child born just as they died so it needs a good deal of slack and suspension of disbelief.The cast is fine. Robert Downey, Jr. is, as always, interesting to watch as are the co-stars and supporting cast. I could have done with less of the reformed crook's perversions but perhaps that's just me.Fulfill your dreams. Things work out in the end. What more can we wish for these days ?

In 1959, in San Francisco, the telephone operator Penny Washington (Alfre Woodard) leaves her three children to work in her night shift. The shy singer Harrison Winslow (Charles Grodin) is afraid of the stage and quits his audition. The waitress Julia (Kyra Sedgwick) is proposed by her boyfriend and she does not accept; then she regrets and leaves her job to seek him out. The smalltime thief Milo Peck (Tom Sizemore) tries to retrieve a valuable collection of stamps that he had stolen from a boy. They embark in a bus and the driver Hal (David Paymer) distracts while driving and has a serious accident, and driver and passengers die. Meanwhile, Frank Reilly (Bill Calvert) is driving his pregnant wife Eva Reilly (Lisa Lucas) to the hospital. Frank successfully escapes from the bus but Eva is nervous and delivers her baby in the car. The souls of the four passengers become the guardian angels and the invisible friends of the boy Thomas Reilly. Seven years later, Penny, Julia, Harrison and Milo conclude that they are harming the boy and they decide to become invisible also to him.Thirty and something years later, Hal returns with his bus to take them four and the quartet learns that they had all those years to resolve the issues of their lives. They ask Hal to stall and give some more time for them to resolve their unfinished lives and they decide to come back to Thomas (Robert Downey Jr.), who is now a tough businessman and indecisive in his relationship with girlfriend Anne (Elisabeth Shue), and ask him to help them to resolve their issues and become free souls. In the end, Thomas also becomes a better man."Heart and Souls" is one of the most adorable films of the 90's. The writer uses the central idea of the successful "Ghost" (1990) to make a witty and delightful comedy, with state-of-art special effects in 1993.Kyra Sedgwick, Tom Sizemore, Alfre Woodard, Charles Grodin and Robert Downey Jr. show an amazing chemistry and they really seem to have fun while shooting this film. Kyra Sedgwick shows a beautiful smile and Robert Downey Jr. is hilarious. The cameo of B.B. King is a plus that gives the status of cult to this film. The message in the end is very nice and I do not recall how many times I have seen "Heart and Souls" on VHS in the 90's. Yesterday I saw it on DVD for the first time and I only regret that there are no extras, only the film. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "Morrendo e Aprendendo" ("Dying and Learning")

My original comment on this was deleted. As with the characters in the movie, this gives me a second chance.I admit that I am an admirer of Downey. He is one of our few actors that can do what I call folded acting: a self-awareness that communicates itself. This is just a kind of language of mental mathematics — one that I believe makes people more susceptible to addictive behavior. This film was done right after the rather amazing "Chaplin," but before it was released. I think it is pretty effective writing and I will recommend it on that score.But there are two scenes that really worked for me. One is the setup, the other the payoff. The setup is the six year old Downey sings in the bathroom with his four ghost friends. It is 1965 and we are singing "walk like a man," already an iconic song. The walls reverberate like schoolboy toilet walls do — or used to when they were 100% tile and urinals were lined up. It has energy. The boy actor is terrific. The joke at the time is a nun looks in and sees and hears only the boy. Mildly funny. Mildly endearing.Now move forward to later when the adult Downey re-encounters the ghosts. He has just done something companionable and likes hanging out. They are crossing Post street in San Francisco — a regular street. They break out into this song. The whole thing lasts only a minute or so before being interrupted by an iconic bus to heaven. But watch the ensemble do their strutting to the song, just as if they were still stuck in 1963, when the song appeared... except for Downey. Look at what he does here, hands in pockets singing the lead. When I saw this in 1993, I knew this man would be important. This 20 or 30 seconds. It is because the context is all about inhabiting bodies and carrying selves. He does the "oh gosh, now I'm someone else," bit with awareness of both beings. In this scene, he is three persons: the child, the adult, the actor. He spoke about this at the time. Here you can see virtually everything he brought to "Tropic Thunder."Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.