# Just like Heaven (2005 film)

Just like Heaven is a 2005 American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Mark Waters and starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. It is based on the 1999 French novel If Only It Were True (Et si c'était vrai...) by Marc Levy.
Steven Spielberg obtained the rights to produce the film from the book. The film was released in the United States on September 16, 2005. Despite mixed reviews from critics, it grossed $102.9 million on a budget of $58 million.

## Plot

Elizabeth Masterson, an emergency room resident physician in San Francisco focused on her profession, is in a car crash while on her way to a blind date at her sister's. Three months later, landscape architect David Abbott, needing a fresh start after his wife's death, takes a sublet on Elizabeth's apartment.
Elizabeth begins to appear in the apartment, and both are confused. She thinks he is a squatter, and he thinks she broke in. They soon realize she moves through walls and objects. Elizabeth does not know who she is and insists she is not dead. David unsuccessfully tries to have her spirit exorcised. As only David can see and hear her, others think he is hallucinating and talking to himself. Elizabeth asks him to help her discover who she really is, so David talks to her neighbors but they do not know her.
David enlists the help of psychic bookstore clerk Darryl, who says Elizabeth is not really dead. He also tells David he has clearly got a blocked heart and needs to let go of the woman who was previously in his life. When Elizabeth says he should get over being dumped, he storms out, and Darryl tells Elizabeth to not disrespect the dead. She finds David and he explains about the death of his wife.
Checking a restaurant, she recognizes that a man has a medical emergency, so Elizabeth helps David save his life. Suddenly, she remembers being a doctor, so they go to the nearest hospital, where it all comes flooding back. Dr. Fran Lo, her mentor, takes him to Elizabeth, who is in a coma. When David touches her hand, Elizabeth feels it, meaning she is still connected to her body.
Elizabeth's sister Abby arrives, and Dr. Brett Rushton – Elizabeth's rival – notifies her that Elizabeth signed a DNR order. He asks her to sign off on disconnecting life support, and she says she will consider it.
David and Elizabeth bond. When he takes her to a beautiful landscaped garden he designed, she tells him she senses she has been there before. In fact, she was dreaming of the garden (in the opening scenes of the film), while catnapping during a long shift.
When David is told he has been offered a long-term lease, he realizes Elizabeth will be taken off life support. He tries to prevent it by going to Abby's to tell her that she is communicating with him. While there, Elizabeth discovers that her niece Lily can see her. David begs Abby to keep her alive, but she has already signed the papers, with life support ending the next day. As a last-ditch effort, David blurts out Abby's secret kiss on her wedding day, freaking her out so she drives him out of her house.
Elizabeth opts to spend her last night with David in the apartment. The next morning, he is determined to prevent her death by stealing her body from the hospital. He enlists his friend and therapist Jack to help. It turns out Jack is Abby's former college boyfriend, and they had set up David and Elizabeth for a blind date on the night of the crash; David can see her because they were meant to meet. He admits to Jack and Elizabeth that he loves her.
Security guards catch them trying to steal Elizabeth's body. As they pull Jack away from her, her breathing tube comes off. Elizabeth is now dying, and David frantically kisses her mouth, while her spirit fades away. Her heartbeat returns and she awakens from the coma. She recognizes Abby, but not David, so he sadly leaves.
Sometime later, Elizabeth moves back into her apartment. Drawn to the roof, she finds David, who has transformed it into a landscaped garden. He reveals he had gotten in using the spare key her spirit had shown him. When Elizabeth asks for her key back, their hands touch, her memory of the events during her coma is restored, and they kiss happily.
The final scene fades away from the rooftop to show Darryl staring into a snow globe, happy with "seeing" how things have turned out.

## Cast

* Reese Witherspoon as Elizabeth
* Mark Ruffalo as David
* Donal Logue as Jack
* Dina Waters as Abby
* Ben Shenkman as Brett
* Ivana Miličević as Katrina
* Caroline Aaron as Grace
* Rosalind Chao as Fran
* Ron Canada as Walsh
* Willie Garson as Maitre D'
* Jon Heder as Darryl

## Reception
### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 54% of 149 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Delightfully sweet like a lollipop, Just Like Heaven is a dreamy romantic comedy that may give you a toothache when it attempts to broach difficult end of life issues by throwing a cherry on top." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 47 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper, and A. O. Scott all gave it favorable reviews, agreeing that the plot had logical flaws that were somewhat overcome by good dialogue and characterization.

### Box office

Just like Heaven grossed $48.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $54.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $102.9 million, against a budget of $58 million.

## Theme song

The title of this film is also that of a popular 1987 song, "Just like Heaven" by The Cure. Singer Katie Melua recorded a cover version of the song for the soundtrack of the film. Melua's version is played over the opening titles and has lines such as "she said" changed to "he said" to maintain a heterosexual narrative. The original version by The Cure, as well as the remainder of Melua's version, are played over the closing credits.
The orchestral score was written by Rolfe Kent, and orchestrated by Tony Blondal.

## Soundtrack

| Track No. | Title | Writer and music composer | Performer | Producer | Courtesy (TM/C) | License |
| 01 | "Just like Heaven" | Robert Smith, Boris Williams, Simon Gallup, Paul Thompson, and Laurence Tolhurst | Katie Melua | Ralph Sall and Mike Batt | Dramatico Records | |
| 02 | "Lust for Life" | David Bowie and Iggy Pop | Kay Hanley | Ralph Sall | | |
| 03 | "Strange Invitation" | Beck | Beck | | Geffen Records | Universal Music Enterprises |
| 04 | "Good Times Roll" | Ric Ocasek | The Cars | | Elektra Entertainment Group | Warner Music Group (Film & TV) |
| 05 | "I Put a Spell on You" | Jay Hawkins | Screamin' Jay Hawkins | | Epic Records | Sony/BMG Music Entertainment |
| 06 | "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" | Barrett Strong and Norman J. Whitfield | Pete Yorn | Ralph Sall | Columbia Records (Pete Yorn appearance) | |
| 07 | "Bad Faith" "Fuji Dawn" | Andrew Dorfman | | | Megathor Music | |
| 08 | "Tomorrow" (from the Broadway musical Annie) | Martin Charnin and Charles Strouse | Reese Witherspoon | | | |
| 09 | "Ghostbusters" | Ray Parker Jr. | Bowling for Soup | Ralph Sall and Jaret Reddick | Jive Records (Bowling For Soup appearance) | |
| 10 | "Big Brown Eyes" | Ron Hacker | Ron Hacker | | | |
| 11 | "Moonbeam Lullabye" | Daniel May | Daniel May | | Marc Ferrari/Matersource | |
| 12 | "Jungle Fever" | Bill Ador | The Chakachas | | Universal Music S.A. (Belgium) | Universal Music Enterprises |
| 13 | "Brass in Pocket" | Chrissie Hynde & James Honeyman-Scott | Kelis | Ralph Sall | LaFace Records/ The Zomba Label Group (Kelis appearance) | |
| 14 | "Swim with Me" | Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field, Greg Page, and Paul Paddick | The Wiggles | | The Wiggles Production PTY Limited | |
| 15 | "Bad Case of Lovin' You" | John Martin | Emerson Hart | Ralph Sall | | |
| 16 | "Spooky" | Buddy Buie, James Cobb, Harry Middlebrooks, and Mike Shapiro | Imogen Heap | Ralph Sall and Imogen Heap | Megaphone Records (Imogen Heap appearance) | Zync Music Inc. |
| 17 | "Colors" | Amos Lee | Amos Lee | | Blue Note Records | EMI Film and Television Music |
| 18 | "Just like Heaven" | | The Cure | | Elektra Entertainment Group Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing & Fiction Records Limited/ Polydor Ltd. (U.K.) | Universal Music Enterprises |