1987

Cast- Timothy Hutton & Kelly McGillis

Mike is a young man in the 1940’s when he is killed saving the lives of others.  He is welcomed in Heaven where he meets Annie, a new soul who was born there, and falls in love.  Only in this Heaven everyone is eventually sent back to Earth and Annie is the first to go.  Mike strikes a deal with Emmett, the man running things up there, and Mike is sent back as a baby.  He has thirty years to find her or he will lose his true love for eternity.

Why I love it– This love story is original, romantic, heartbreaking, and pure fantasy.  The version of Heaven is not what I picture when I think about it, but it was not so heavy handed to be offensive to anyone.  This is a Heaven where you can fall in love, learn new talents, and be happy and there is nothing wrong with that.

The love story is so pure.  They are meant to be together, but it won’t be easy.  They have to struggle and grieve and hold on to hope.  And it’s about finding your life’s purpose and being good to people, because you will run into them again in this life or the next.

What really brings this story together for me, in addition to the wonderful Timothy Hutton, is the hauntingly beautiful music.  The song, We Never Danced, will make you sit through the credits happily.  I’m including a video that plays it twice with clips of the movie.  I’d recommend stopping after the first one finishes so you don’t see every scene of the movie.

A few fun facts-I am pretty good with faces and I watched this movie quite a few times in the 90’s, only I never knew who Emmett (the guy in charge of Heaven) was.  When I included this movie in Monday’s meme I found out who Emmett was and was SHOCKED!  It was uncredited and is supposed to be a surprise so I won’t spoil it.  But I warn you, if you can’t figure it out the first time you’ll have to watch it again to see.

And for you 80’s rock star fans, Tom Petty, Ric Ocasek, and Neil Young all make cameos.