Genre Guesstimation – Chances Are (1989) – Encore Review

The idea behind this feature (Genre Guesstimation) is for me to watch a bunch of new movies (or ones that I haven’t seen many times) from the chosen monthly GG genre in order to expand my knowledge of movies within that particular genre.

This month’s genre has been chosen by me and we will be reviewing our favorite Oscar Nominated or Winning Movies.

Please get me your submissions by the 25th of Mar by sending them to andtheOscargoesto…@movierob.net

Try to think out of the box!

Let’s see if I felt that this movie would be worthy of being in the company of my others favorite movies in the genre of Oscar Nominated or Winning Movies……….

[Philip tells Corinne and Alex the things he believes in to be real] Now, look, I’m just a dumb newspaper man. I believe Monday follows Sunday. I believe that summer follows spring. I believe in God and glasnost. I believe in things you can touch.” – Philip Train

Number of Times Seen – Too many to count (Lots of time on Cable, Dvd, 2 Jul 1999, 13 Oct 2013 and 24 Mar 2022)

Link to original review – Here

Brief Synopsis – After a mishap in Heaven, a soul in sent back to Earth with past life memories which cause problems when he ends up meeting people he once knew 20 years earlier.

My Take on it – This is such a fun movie that I have loved ever since I saw it over 30 years ago.

Robert Downey Jr. is superb in the lead role and manages to show the show and awe that his character needs along with possible flashes of recognition along the way.

The story plays out really well and is easily able to explain what has happened in the time lapse between the two time periods of the film.

Along with Downey, this film also has Cybill Shepard, Ryan O’Neil and Mary Stuart Masterson and they all do amazing jobs with these characters.

The biggest problem with this film is how quickly the relationship between Downey and Masterson is depicted which might have worked better if done more in depth.

The film has an amazing score that is accentuated by the Oscar nominated theme song sung by Cher and peter Cetera which is amazing.

Check it out here:

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The inspiration for the movie came to screenwriters Perry Howze and Randy Howze, who are real-life sisters, from a true story their grandmother told them about their great-aunt. “Our aunt”, related Perry, “was married to the love of her life, a southern stock broker, for one year. They were a young, beautiful, glamorous couple. After a year of bliss, he died of a brain tumor, and our aunt never recovered. She was that committed and devoted to him.” Randy continued: “We thought, wouldn’t it be a joyous thing if her husband came back into her life. We like that notion of life and love not ending with death, just continuing and changing form.” (From IMDB)

Genre Grandeur Worthy? – Comes really close. Such a fun film, bit something is missing that would raise it to even greater heights.

Rating – Globe Worthy (8/10) (no change from original review)