Heart and Souls
| Heart and Souls | |
|---|---|
 Promotional one-sheet poster. |
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| Directed by | Ron Underwood |
| Produced by | Nancy Roberts Sean Daniel |
| Written by | Brent Maddock S. S. Wilson Gregory Hansen Erik Hansen |
| Starring | Robert Downey, Jr. Charles Grodin Alfre Woodard Kyra Sedgwick Elisabeth Shue Tom Sizemore David Paymer |
| Music by | Marc Shaiman |
| Cinematography | Michael W. Watkins |
| Editing by | O. Nicholas Brown |
| Studio | Alphaville Stampede Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 13, 1993 |
| Running time | 93 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $16,581,714 (USA)[1] |
Heart and Souls is a 1993 fantasy/comedy film about the souls of four deceased people who are trapped on earth and can only be seen by a single living human being who is recruited to help them take care of their unfinished business. The movie was directed by Ron Underwood and was filmed in San Francisco.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
In 1959, Frank and Eva Reilly are on their way to the hospital, as Eva is in labor with their first child. As they are driving, Harrison (Charles Grodin), Julia (Kyra Sedgwick), Milo (Tom Sizemore), and Penny (Alfre Woodard) are presented as passengers on the same bus. The bus driver is focused on a car to his left where a man is touching a woman's exposed leg. He loses control of the bus and crashes off an overpass, killing all four of the characters. Each one had unfinished business in his or her life, and instead of going to heaven, they find themselves as ghosts, tied to the newborn Thomas Reilly, who was born in the vehicle at the moment the four passengers lost their lives.
Only Thomas is able to see the ghosts. They act as his guides and guardian spirits. However, when people show concern over Thomas' "imaginary" friends, they decide to hide themselves from him to avoid trouble. Thomas is devastated. Twenty-five years later, after finally learning that they were supposed to use their internment on Earth to resolve their remaining issues, they make themselves visible to Thomas (Robert Downey, Jr.) once more. By now, he is a cold, distant businessman having problems with his girlfriend Anne (Elisabeth Shue). Though reluctant at first, he eventually agrees to help them fulfill their final tasks. As they succeed (despite varying levels of difficulty) in tying up their decades-old loose ends, they are individually brought to heaven by the bus driver Hal (his punishment for crashing the bus).
Milo, a petty thief, regrets a decision he made right before his death to steal valuable stamps, a family heirloom, from a child. He possesses Thomas to steal the stamps back from his former boss, who still has them. He returns the stamps anonymously to their overjoyed owner.
Harrison was a would-be singer who was very talented, but had severe stage fright. He died shortly after giving up at an audition, unable to perform. After encouragement from Thomas and the others, he works up the nerve to sing the National Anthem at a B. B. King concert where Thomas sneaks on stage. Harrison is a big hit, but soon after his performance the police detain Thomas, who is nevertheless satisfied that Harrison's final act was a success.
Penny was a single mother who had been spending her time with Thomas trying to discover the fates of her three children after her death. Earlier in the day, the group had gone to Penny's old neighborhood to look for clues. They found Penny's old neighbor who still took care of the neighborhood cats. She told them that Penny's daughters were adopted by a good family in Sacramento, but that she lost track of Billy when he entered the foster care system. Thomas, Julia and Penny rush out of the police parking lot after Thomas post-performance arrest eager to continue their search for Penny's son. However as they exit, Thomas hits another car. It turns out the car is being driven by the police officer with whom Thomas has had constant run-ins throughout the movie. The officer is traveling with this wife and young daughter. As the officer and Thomas fight about the accident, the little daughter begins to cry. The police officer attempts to soothe his daughter by singing a song which Penny recognizes the song as the one she made up to sing to her children. The song used to be her son, Billy's, favorite. Penny is convinced this is her son. Thomas asks the officer if he was ever adopted and if his first name is Billy. Thomas tries to explain that his mother and Billy's mother were in the hospital together the night Billy's mother died. In attempting to convince the officer of their connection, Thomas tells Billy about his sisters and Billy's old next-door neighbor, whom Billy remembers from his youth. Billy admits he had spent the last twenty years trying to find them, but had not been able to get access to the sealed records. Excited to discover this young officer is her son, Penny possessing Thomas to give him a hug and tells him that she loves him. Billy is disoriented and not fully convinced by Thomas's story, but they part with Billy issuing a threat to check the story out. Penny's work is done.
Finally, Julia had been on the way to tell her ex-boyfriend that she loved him and intended to accept his proposal in marriage when the bus crashed. Thomas takes her to the last-known location of the man, trying to outrun the ghost bus which has come for her. She takes control of him when they arrive and writes a letter to give to her fiancée under the cover that he found it. However, when Thomas knocks on the door, the man who lives there reveals that her boyfriend died seven years ago a lonely man worn down by life. Thomas and Julia are stunned at the unfairness of it, until she realizes that coming here was meant to show Thomas that he shouldn't squander his relationship with Anne and makes him promise to go to her. Hal is pleased with this explanation, and Julia and Thomas then get ready to say their good-byes. Julia is wistful because she, like the other ghosts, had helped watch over him as her own child, and as she said to him when he was 7 years old, she simply wished she could give him a big hug.
After hearing her, Hal looks up to the sky, meaning God, suddenly Julia becomes solid and is able to hug Thomas. The bus driver says 'thank you' to God and takes Julia away. Thomas and Julia wave good-bye to one another. Thomas then meets up with Anne in the gardens and explains how four people he loved very much left his life (meaning Milo, Harrison, Julia, and Penny), which had left him devastated. And goes on to explain that he was afraid to love anyone and then tells her his feelings, they both reconcile and kiss.
[edit] Cast
- Robert Downey, Jr. — Thomas Reilly
- Charles Grodin — Harrison Winslow
- Alfre Woodard — Penny Washington
- Kyra Sedgwick — Julia
- Tom Sizemore — Milo Peck
- David Paymer — Hal the Bus Driver
- Elisabeth Shue — Anne
- Bill Calvert — Frank Reilly
- Lisa Lucas — Eva Reilly
- Eric Lloyd - Thomas Reilly (age 7)
- Richard Portnow - Max Marco
- B. B. King - Himself
- Wren T. Brown - Sgt. Wm. Barclay
- Kurtwood Smith - Patterson (uncredited)
- Chloe Webb - Patient in Psychiatric Ward (uncredited)
[edit] Awards
Saturn Award - Robert Downey Jr. (Best actor in a leading role)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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