DEFENDING YOUR LIFE - 1991
DEFENDING YOUR LIFE - A WITTY LOOK AT AFTERLIFE BY DIRECTOR BROOKS
Albert Brooks has managed to create a wonderfully original comic fantasy with Defending Your Life. The writer-director plays Daniel Miller, a Los Angeles advertising executive who is driving his new BMW when he collides fatally into a bus.
Miller's spirit lands in Judgement City, a Disneyworld type amusement park filled with elegant restaurants, four star hotels, and tourist attractions such as the Past Lives Pavilion.
During in his stay in the city, Miller goes on trial to prove he lived an honorable life. If he pleases the court he'll move onto a higher plane. If he doesn't he will have to go back to Earth and try again.
Along the way, Miller strikes up a romance with Julia (Meryl Streep), a high spirited perfect woman who is also awaiting judgement. Streep is a comic wonder as the secure, heroic Julia. She's everything that Daniel isn't. Brooks and Streep create a magical chemistry among them even the harshest critic couldn't deny. The excellent supporting cast includes Lee Grant as the prosecutor who is out to send Miller back to Earth and Rip Torn as Miller's relaxed defense attorney.
Brooks has given us a warm, funny, inspiring look at life and some insight on perhaps how to live our lives before we reach our afterlife.
Albert Brooks has managed to create a wonderfully original comic fantasy with Defending Your Life. The writer-director plays Daniel Miller, a Los Angeles advertising executive who is driving his new BMW when he collides fatally into a bus.
Miller's spirit lands in Judgement City, a Disneyworld type amusement park filled with elegant restaurants, four star hotels, and tourist attractions such as the Past Lives Pavilion.
During in his stay in the city, Miller goes on trial to prove he lived an honorable life. If he pleases the court he'll move onto a higher plane. If he doesn't he will have to go back to Earth and try again.
Along the way, Miller strikes up a romance with Julia (Meryl Streep), a high spirited perfect woman who is also awaiting judgement. Streep is a comic wonder as the secure, heroic Julia. She's everything that Daniel isn't. Brooks and Streep create a magical chemistry among them even the harshest critic couldn't deny. The excellent supporting cast includes Lee Grant as the prosecutor who is out to send Miller back to Earth and Rip Torn as Miller's relaxed defense attorney.
Brooks has given us a warm, funny, inspiring look at life and some insight on perhaps how to live our lives before we reach our afterlife.
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