Heaven Can Wait

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Heaven Can Wait

PG,

1978,

1h 41m,

Comedy/

Fantasy/

Romance

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82%

51 Reviews

Tomatometer

68%

10,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

82%

Tomatometer

51 Reviews

68%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty), quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, is killed in an auto accident. In the afterlife, Joe discovers that his guardian angel (Buck Henry) has taken him from his body prematurely, and he is due many more years on earth. Unable to return to his body, Joe assumes the form of greedy multimillionaire industrialist Leo Farnsworth. As Farnsworth, Joe attempts a return to football and falls in love with environmental activist Betty Logan (Julie Christie).

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Critics Consensus

A throwback to the high-gloss screwball comedies of the 1940s, Heaven Can Wait beguiles with seamless production values and great comic relief from Charles Grodin and Dianne Cannon.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

Sep 18, 2023

The film has no desire but to please, and that’s its only compulsiveness; it’s so timed and pleated and smoothed that it’s sliding right off the screen.

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Nicholas Wapshott

The Times (UK)

Jul 13, 2020

Beatty can carry off this sort of whimsy by playing it straight and keeping the ludicrous premise credible. But the film is dogged by the nagging vision of what might have been.

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Judith Martin

Washington Post

Aug 30, 2016

This is a very sweet movie to watch, the pleasant cinematic equivalent of light summer reading.

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Apr 14, 2026

6/10

In its 100-plus minutes, I get the feeling that it's a fantasy comedy that lacks a certain celestial charm and suffers from narrative inconsistencies, even with the chemistry between Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. [Full review in Spanish]

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Jul 15, 2025

3/10

Far more detrimental than the general blandness of the body-swapping, career-swapping, and woman-swapping is the humor, which remains pitifully minimal.

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Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

Feb 2, 2024

5/5

Heaven Can Wait holds up as one of the best films of 1978 and remains a timeless classic.

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Leia S

Mar 15, 2019

Remarkable from top to bottom, its only major flaw is (Spoiler) that he loses his memory of the whole thing. A person's memory is everything that makes them who they are. Should have left that part out.

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Feb 1, 2019

The best fantasy comedy romance movie ever made!

Theodore S

Jan 12, 2019

Another "oldie-but-goodie" I watched w/ my brilliant 15-yr. old film critic and we enjoyed the silly antics and strange twists, esp. with the Cowboys-Rams match-up impending this evening. The beaming stare of Julie Christie and Warren Beatty at the pinnacle of their personal beauty was something to behold. This made it to DVD in 1999, but still held our attention today, and the football, marriage, political, corporate, and criminal law aspects of the 1978 day were still pretty applicable today. Worth your time! 4-stars ****

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Draco G

Nov 19, 2018

Not too bad, Ill stick with the original.The special effects could have been better.

Hermione G

Dec 5, 2017

Heaven Can Wait has its charming moments with the beginning and the ending being the highlights, but this is still a very overrated film that did not deserve any of its nine Academy Award nominations. The execution of the familiar plot is tired and not great, it fails to enchant properly and the characters are forgettable. A very disappointing film.

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Rey R

Sep 29, 2017

really liked this film loved the idea that the angle fucked up and he was given another life

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Warren Beatty

Director

Buck Henry

Director

Warren Beatty

Joe Pendleton

Julie Christie

Betty Logan

Jack Warden

Max Corkle

James Mason

Mr. Jordan

Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - Deja Vu

1:52

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Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - How Heaven Works

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Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - He's Not There

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Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - Heaven Can Wait

1:01

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Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - An Airplane Dream

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Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - Anxious Conspirators

1:07

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Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - I Don't Frighten Anybody

0:38

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Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - Picking a New Body

0:47

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Synopsis

Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty), quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, is killed in an auto accident. In the afterlife, Joe discovers that his guardian angel (Buck Henry) has taken him from his body prematurely, and he is due many more years on earth. Unable to return to his body, Joe assumes the form of greedy multimillionaire industrialist Leo Farnsworth. As Farnsworth, Joe attempts a return to football and falls in love with environmental activist Betty Logan (Julie Christie).

Director: Warren Beatty, Buck Henry
Producer: Warren Beatty
Screenwriter: Elaine May, Warren Beatty
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 28, 1978, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2017
Runtime: 1h 41m
Sound Mix: Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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