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Heaven Can Wait poster

Heaven Can Wait

year 1978decade 70sdirector Warren Beatty and Buck Henrygenre Comedygenre Dramagenre Fantasy

101 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Warren Beatty Joe Pendleton
Julie Christie Betty Logan
James Mason Mr. Jordan
Dyan Cannon Julia Farnsworth
Charles Grodin Tony Abbott
Jack Warden Max Corkle
Buck Henry The Escort
Vincent Gardenia Lt. Krim
Dolph Sweet Head Coach

Heaven Can Wait | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Van Lathan theme_month Big 70s Month / Super 70s Month
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Producer credits not yet identified.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Last ten minutes; convincing Max; training montage and football practice

In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 00:32:15Read transcript
  • The first fifteen minutes are loved, narrowed to Max’s birthday visit that quickly establishes their friendship; another speaker favors the first eight minutes through the bike ride. The initially silent title sequence is praised for treating the player seriously.
  • Beatty’s throwing mechanics, touch passes, cadence and football terminology are praised. A prompted Craig reply prefers his physicality to Reynolds, with Mayfield comparison; other voices distinguish running versus system-quarterback styles. Mark Harmon is floated hypothetically, with uncertain chronology.
  • The Super Bowl was reportedly shot within fourteen halftime minutes at a Rams/Chargers preseason game; play calling looks authentic. F1 and Days of Thunder are comparisons for filming around live sport, followed by an uncertain Reacher sighting anecdote.
  • The tunnel accident works; dark events such as attempted murder and pollution are handled lightly, with a repeated plate gag allowing the audience to move on.
  • The body-candidate montage is liked, with wishes for several more alternatives. A Hollywood waiter and porn performer are joking imagined additions; the artificial rules are enjoyed.
  • Farnsworth’s return and the mouse panic, then Joe and Betty’s limo attraction and lingering looks, are candidates.
  • Joe telling Max the secret is called the movie’s single best part; private details and the neck adjustment finally persuade him. The reunion is appreciated. The actor-history comment at the start of351 instead continues the preceding Beatty/Christie romantic scene.
  • The servant football montage could run eight more minutes; Grodin crashing into a bush, attempted catches and Warden tossing the ball are enjoyed, with Warden’s football experience guessed.
  • The montage’s spacious backyard and Farnsworth’s first Rams practice are praised; the supposed LA house being in Northern California is a small disappointment. Grodin’s instruction to ignore offensive remarks is admired as comedy.
  • Joe’s goodbye to Betty, shooting and Super Bowl are candidates. The ending hurts because Max regains then permanently loses his friend; a speaker does not cry here despite crying at films generally. A biography analogy to Beatty moving on from friendships remains a report.
  • One final scene choice is the last ten minutes, especially Christie’s bittersweet meeting and the reassuring darkness moment.
  • Another final choice is convincing Max, with honorable praise for the boardroom’s compassion and the penny-to-save-a-thinking-fish idea. Beatty’s comic timing and the May/Henry writing support are praised.
  • The remaining final choice is training montage and football practice, especially Grodin watching him get sacked.

The most "year the movie came out" thing

Ordinary athlete lifestyles; low franchise prices

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:18Read transcript
  • Professional athletes’ lower wealth and greater anonymity make Joe’s quiet birthday and modest house plausible; the reported first million-dollar player story illustrates the era.
  • Two voices converge on quarterback status having less celebrity value. A modern remake might motivate him with wealth, ownership or a stadium instead of playing the Super Bowl.
  • Runners-up include feathered women’s hair, gaudy mansion wallpaper, young Dick Emberg (observed) and nonexistent concussion scrutiny. The franchise price is the final number-one choice: source says17million here versus67million earlier, with19million book value; the inconsistent figures are not repaired.

What’s Aged the Best?

Dyan Cannon; Grodin–Cannon comedy; Vincent Gardenia; Dave Grusin’s score; overtime Super Bowl; Rams–Steelers matchup; backup-quarterback popularity; California wellness; environmental concerns; Farnsworth’s rich-man pretense

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:58:08Read transcript
  • Joe’s prescribed death is given as10:17am March20,2016; speakers momentarily confuse whether he would still be alive, then joke about an elderly football survivor.
  • A six-pack of Cannon includes wanting a drink, outfits, eye acting, screaming, reported partners and Lakers attendance. Her indifference during the shooting and the Grodin affair/pajamas/curtain comedy are added; Who’s Harry Crumb is called great as a comparison.
  • Gardenia’s police sergeant and the Grusin score are praised. A Gardenia month is an unrealized alternative, and Shawshank is a comparison for pleasurable musical company.
  • An overtime Super Bowl and a Rams/Steelers matchup are said to anticipate later real events. Filming is reported as September1,1977 at a Chargers/Rams preseason game; actual Rams/Steelers later played at the Rose Bowl, not the Coliseum.
  • Backup-quarterback popularity and constant switching are discussed alongside the era’s violence and interceptions.
  • California wellness and the liver/whey drink are an early cultural memory for one speaker; another places the disgusting drink in aged worst, and others say raw-organ diets persist now. These are cultural opinions, not health advice.
  • Environmental displacement concerns feel early and durable. Farnsworth’s rich impostor behavior, sailor/polo outfits and hollow status are praised as newly relevant.

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Heaven’s clouds and terminal; tunnel-to-light transition

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:10Read transcript
  • Buck Henry and Beatty walking through clouds to the heavenly airport is the initial shot choice.
  • A later return selects the tunnel’s blackout into light and the living character’s reappearance as moving and always loved.

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

Two Rams quarterback deaths; Julie Christie’s hair and styling

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:08:48Read transcript
  • Van cannot think of a weak link. — Van Lathan
  • Two quarterback deaths or near-deaths in months are offered as a plot weakness; another speaker says that is a nitpick and corrects that Jarrett apparently survives. A Tua/Blanda possession scenario is a joke.
  • Christie’s hair and vibe are selected despite the speaker considering her exceptionally beautiful.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Rich-quarterback novelty; generic Beatty character names; quarterback statistics and safety; displacement; Betty’s absence; saxophone continuity; final-play catch

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:50Read transcript
  • The rich-quarterback remark now sounds ordinary. Beatty’s repeated plain character names are mocked and defended as fitting his everyman roles.
  • Jarrett’s60percent completion and18touchdowns initially seem unimpressive, but a live statistical lookup mistakenly reads interceptions before correcting that18TDs ranked highly. Violent play and weak protection remain concerns; the modern Garoppolo analogy is hypothetical.
  • The planned displacement of1760 Paglim residents for a refinery raises an objection about taking homes; eminent-domain applicability in England is uncertain.
  • A demand for more displacement context meets references to urban renewal and history. Betty leaving her teaching job during the school year is questioned and defended because the school itself is threatened; her lack of partner/kids is discussed with jokes.
  • The instrument is inconsistently called clarinet/saxophone, and its unexplained appearance at Jarrett’s locker is challenged; a possible heavenly delivery is speculative.
  • The final catch/fumble looks like an incomplete pass to two speakers. Craig’s prompted response instead finds the sixty-yard overtime quarterback score under-celebrated, and the lack of announcer excitement is criticized.

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Horror interpretation; Mr. Jordan inventing take culture; Julie Christie as the most attractive British woman

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:34Read transcript
  • Van calls the film horror: repeated deaths, mistaken removal and loss of memory could be torture by a devil rather than benevolent heaven. Another voice argues the lovers’ souls remain connected; Van doubts it. — Van Lathan
  • A new spontaneous take casts Joe as selfishly using bodies for one game; objections note he was taken early and his hosts would die. The selection montage is compared with Final Destination as hidden horror.
  • Keeping memories would be kinder but weaken the ending. Possible Jarrett family obligations complicate possession. A horror sequel imagines competing souls, a broken saxophone and the title Heaven Will Not Wait/Get My Body Back; Mr. Jordan as devil remains speculation.
  • Mr. Jordan’s aphorism is said jokingly to invent Jim Rome’s contrarian take culture.
  • A speaker calls Christie the most attractive British woman, with Hurley the other finalist. Mirren is an alternate; Eva Green’s assumed British identity is corrected to French. Christie remains the original choice.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:27:26Read transcript
  • Cannon is initially selected as eligible, with Grodin another possible choice.
  • Warden or Mason are proposed, but Warden is in too much; Mason is kept while Cannon’s Oscar nomination and disputed billing complicate the conversation.
  • Deacon Jones is then offered for a few lines, receiving assent; no clear unanimous winner resolves all prior choices.

Apex Mountain

First iteration of the Los Angeles Rams

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:30:26Read transcript
  • Heaven Can Wait is rejected for Beatty, with Shampoo favored for enabling total control of the next project and Reds proposed for the Oscar. The long interval to Ishtar qualifies what he did with the latter success.
  • Speculation that Beatty used cocaine is immediately qualified as unknown; Christie’s1965 peak is restated.
  • Heaven/metaphysical body-swap movies prompt Chances Are love, indifference to Freaky Friday and exclusion of Dave as mere resemblance. This film is initially favored, but Big becomes the tentative alternative despite not involving heaven.
  • Grodin’s peak is Midnight Run; Warden is probably not here. The first LA Rams era gets a possible yes. Cannon’s Showtime-Lakers public identity is an alternate to the film. Overtime Super Bowls get a no with Falcons joke.
  • Rich-person mansions prompt Filoli, Citizen Kane’s Xanadu and the Batman TV mansion as candidates without a final resolved ranking.

Cruise or Hanks?

Hanks

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:29Read transcript
  • Hanks is repeatedly chosen, though one reply is less convinced.
  • Cruise is not convincing as a quarterback for one speaker but his bike scene and commitment to the football practice would be impressive. Another reply also doubts Hanks as a quarterback.

Is This Movie Better With…?

Jon Gruden; Ryan Ruocco

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:42:00Read transcript
  • The stock additions list leads to a new Jon Gruden impression about Joe Pendleton, arm angle and alfalfa sprouts. The imagined Brett Favre beer/pills comparison in the quarterback room is parody, not a factual anecdote.
  • One participant has no impression; another returns to a Ryan Ruko (observed) call of the shooting and cannon.

Just One Oscar

Art direction

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:43:20Read transcript
  • The actual art-direction win is initially chosen, with Richard Silbert tentatively named.
  • Warden is proposed for supporting actor but dropped because this was Walken’s Deer Hunter year; supporting actress is then queried.
  • Asked who won supporting actress, the replies are I don’t remember and Deer Hunter, without a named actress or a clear new choice for this film.

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

Farnsworth’s hats; Rams jackets; wind instrument; preseason ticket; Jarrett’s jersey

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:49:13Read transcript
  • Farnsworth hats and outfits and the Rams windbreakers are wanted; one speaker reports browsing eBay for jackets.
  • The instrument called clarinet, a ticket to the actual1977 preseason game and Jarrett’s jersey are choices; the opponent is garbled as Ramsdalers here rather than silently normalized. Another reply agrees on the jersey.