Made in Heaven (1987)

It is a performances centric movie

Admirable film.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

In the 50's, Mike Shea (Timothy Hutton) leaves his small town life and is driving to California. He stops to rescue a family but drowns in the accident. He is sent to heaven where he's met by his Aunt Lisa (Maureen Stapleton) and falls in love with new soul Annie Packert (Kelly McGillis). He is heart-broken when Annie is sent down to earth. He convinces the powers that be to send him back. He is given thirty years to find his true love. Annie's new name is Ally Chandler and she has an imaginary childhood friend named Mike. She marries Tom Donnelly (Tim Daly). Mike's new name is Elmo Barnett. He comes from a broken home and joins the military. He gets tricked by Lucille into robbing Stanky.It's a rather slow romance. It's sweet but I can do with less heaven. Once the romance is established, it's ready to be broken and the rest is trying to piece it back together. The other problem is that they aren't together on earth until the end. That prevents them from having good relationship drama. I understand the premise but it's limiting. They should try harder to find each other even if they fail or don't understand exactly what they're looking for. The whole Lucille incident is silly. Ellen Barkin is completely over the top. This is a sweet idea but the execution is slow.

If I believed everything that the movies showed me to be the truth then 'Made in Heaven' would make me want be in Heaven which is a luminescent garden teeming with beauty and light. I would not want to be on earth because it is a lonely cauldron of drunken despair and angst from which there is little hope.That having been said, the first half of 'Made in Heaven' is loaded with a lot of color and imagination. The second half isn't. The movie stars Timothy Hutton as Mike a likable guy who dies in an accident and goes to Heaven. There he meets a guy named Emmett who is God's personal spokeman. His aunt (Maureen Stapleton) lays out some of Heaven's rules which for my book sound a little to constricting for a place that is suppose to be the ultimate paradise. Hutton can decide where he wants to live in Heaven and he chooses a log cabin in the mountains.Heaven smiles on him even more when he meets a beauty named Annie (Kelly McGillis) who's predicament is fascinating from my point of view because she hasn't been born yet (The imagination given to this Heaven is allows it to be populated with the dead as well as the yet-to-be). By this development we now understand that their time is limited. Annie will eventually have to go back to earth to be born.Mike can't stand the thought of Heaven without her. His only hope is to go back to earth and live as someone else, the catch being that they don't remember any of their heavenly adventures together and will live separate lives completely oblivious of one another.This is where the movie grinds to a halt . . .Back on earth we meet Mike who is now Milo a musician with a bone to pick with just about everyone. His existence seems to coil up in bars and self-pity. Earth is dark and dirty and we know that it won't be too much longer until Milo and Annie who is now Ally will have a meeting before the closing credits. Why make the two oblivious of each other? Doesn't that ruin the motivation? We know what will happen to them but if they aren't looking for each other where is the momentum.My biggest problem with 'Made in Heaven' is that it moves as a snails pace. Every scene in the second half seems to run on too long and with a minimum of energy. This isn't just one of the worst climaxes I've seen in the movies, it's one of the most boring. If this movie teaches me anything it's that on the whole, I'd rather be in Heaven.

an absolute hoot, there is no film you will ever see that is as badly done as this film, terrible plot and terrible acting. i could not stop laughing at this film, it tried so hard to be heart warming but I was almost on the floor in tears by the end. my favourite part was with the choir who every time they opened their mouth's a different instrument sound came out. If you want to watch a film seriously, do not watch this, if you want to laugh at a film, that is funny for all the wrong reasons then watch it.I would have to say that this film is one of the worst films that i have ever seen.

Like many of you out there, I just LOVED this movie. Sure it was a bit sappy and corny, but it was cute and funny and full of characters that most of us could identify with. Anyway, I had the movie on VHS, but over the years never maintained my video collection and got rid of the VCR. I always wanted this movie on DVD and today, I found it available on Ebay.If you are trying to find this movie, don't give up. It took me four years (not actively searching everyday LOL) to find it that I ordered two copies (just in case something happens to the first one).LOVE THE MOVIE!!!!!!! I'm embarrassed to admit, but it always gives me goosebumps at the end when Kelly McGillis is an emotional wreck unable to contain her tears walking through the crowded city streets when suddenly she just "knows". (I got goosebumps just typing that...LOVE the movie!)