Just like Heaven (2005 film)

Just like Heaven is a 2005 American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Mark Waters and starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. It is based on the 1999 French novel If Only It Were True (Et si c'était vrai...) by Marc Levy.

Steven Spielberg obtained the rights to produce the film from the book. The film was released in the United States on September 16, 2005. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $102 million.

Plot
Elizabeth Masterson, an emergency room physician in San Francisco whose work is everything, is in a car crash while on her way to a blind date at her sister's. Three months later, landscape architect David Abbott, needing a fresh start after his wife's death, takes a sublet on Elizabeth's apartment.

Elizabeth begins to appear in the apartment, and both are confused. She thinks he is a squatter, and he thinks she broke in. They soon realize she moves through walls and objects. Elizabeth does not know who she is, and insists she is not dead. David unsuccessfully tries to have her spirit exorcised. As only David can see and hear her, others think he is hallucinating and talking to himself. Elizabeth asks him to help her discover who she really is. David talks to her neighbors but they did not know her.

David enlists the help of a psychic bookstore clerk, Darryl, who says Elizabeth is not really dead. He also tells David he has clearly got a blocked heart, and needs to let go of the woman who was previously in his life. When Elizabeth says he should get over being dumped, he storms out, and Darryl tells Elizabeth to not disrespect the dead. She finds David and he explains about the death of his wife.

Checking a restaurant she recognizes, a man has a medical emergency, so Elizabeth helps David save his life. Suddenly, she remembers being a doctor, and they go to the nearest hospital, where it all comes flooding back. Dr. Fran Lo, her mentor, takes him to Elizabeth, who is in a coma. When David touches her hand, Elizabeth feels it, meaning she is still connected to her body.

Elizabeth's sister Abby arrives, and Dr. Brett Rushton – Elizabeth's rival –  notifies her that Elizabeth signed a DNR order. He asks her to sign off on disconnecting life support, and she says she will consider it.

David and Elizabeth bond. When he takes her to a beautiful landscaped garden he designed, she tells him she senses she has been there before. In fact, she was dreaming of the garden (in the opening scenes of the film), while catnapping during a long shift.

When David is told he has been offered a long term lease, he realizes Elizabeth will be taken off life support. He tries to prevent it by going to Abby's to tell her that she is communicating with him. While there, Elizabeth discovers that her niece Lily can see her. David begs Abby to keep her alive, but she has already signed the papers, with life support ending the next day. As a last ditch effort, David blurts out Abby's secret from her wedding day, freaking her out so she drives him out of her house.

Elizabeth opts to spend her last night with David in the apartment. The next morning, he is determined to prevent her death by stealing her body from the hospital. He enlists his friend and therapist Jack to help. It turns out Jack is Abby's former college boyfriend, and the two had set up David and Elizabeth for the blind date on the night of the crash; David can see her because they were meant to meet. He admits to Jack and Elizabeth that he loves her.

Security guards catch them trying to steal Elizabeth's body. As they pull Jack away from her, her breathing tube comes off. Elizabeth is now dying, and David frantically kisses her body, while her spirit fades away. Her heartbeat returns and she awakens from the coma. She recognizes Abby, but not David, and he sadly leaves.

Sometime later, Elizabeth moves back into her apartment. Drawn to the roof, she finds David, who has transformed it into a landscaped garden. He reveals he had gotten in using the spare key her spirit had shown him. When Elizabeth asks for her key back, their hands touch, her memory of the events during her coma are restored, and they kiss happily.

The final scene fades away from the rooftop to show Darryl staring into a snow globe, happy with "seeing" how things have turned out.

Critical response
However, Metacritic reported a crowdsourced user score of 8.4 out of 10 as its audience rating, characterized as "Universal Acclaim", based on 181 user ratings.

Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper, and A. O. Scott all gave it favorable reviews, agreeing that the plot had logical flaws that were somewhat overcome by good dialogue and characterization.

Box office
Just like Heaven grossed $48.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $54.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $102.9 million, against a budget of $58 million.

Theme song
The title of this film is also that of a popular 1987 song, "Just like Heaven" by The Cure. Singer Katie Melua recorded a cover version of the song for the soundtrack of the film. Melua's version is played over the opening titles, and has lines such as "she said" changed to "he said" to maintain a heterosexual narrative. The original version by The Cure, as well as the remainder of Melua's version, are played over the closing credits.

The orchestral score was written by Rolfe Kent, and orchestrated by Tony Blondal.