72
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenWarren Beatty's Heaven Can Wait is the most delightful movie the year has offered. Funny, fantastical, fast on its feet, this romantic fantasy comes closer than any film of the past decade to capturing the ingenious, madcap spirit of '30s comedies. [03 July 1978, p.90]
- 88The Globe and Mail (Toronto)The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Paul Sylbert's production design is handsome, William A. Fraker's cinematography is beautiful and Dave Grusin's music winning. All in all, Heaven Can Wait is a fantastic fantasy. [28 June 1978]
- 80Washington PostGary ArnoldWashington PostGary ArnoldIt manages to preserve much of the charm and romantic fantasy that worked for its predecessor, the 1941 crowd-pleaser Here Comes Mr. Jordan, while freshening up some of the settings and details and tailoring the roles to a different cast. [28 June 1978, p.E1]
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertSomehow manages to combine the sweetness and innocence of the original with a satirical bite all its own.
- 70Washington PostWashington PostThis is a very sweet movie to watch, the pleasant cinematic equivalent of light summer reading.
- 50The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyThere is something eerily disconnected about Heaven Can Wait. It may be because in a time of comparative peace, immortality — at least in its life-after-death form — doesn't hold the fascination for us that it does when there's a war going on, as there was in 1941 when Here Comes Mr. Jordan was released and became such a hit. Or perhaps we are somewhat more sophisticated today (though I doubt it) and comedies about heavenly messengers and what is, in effect, a very casual kind of transubstantiation seem essentially silly.
- 50Time OutTime OutBeatty ambles nicely enough through the hero's part (remodeled as a quarterback), and Charles Grodin turns up trumps playing another of his chinless, spineless wonders. But Christie's comedy gifts are as minuscule as ever, and the film drags its feet uncertainly from beginning to end.
- 50TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineThere are a few laughs from Grodin and Cannon, but Beatty and Christie are like 400-pound gorillas chasing a milkweed seed. The more Beatty concentrates, the more glazed and distracted he looks.