Mr. Destiny
Tags: psychedelic, alternate history

Plot synopsis:
The story begins on "the strangest day" of Larry Burrows' (James Belushi) life (his 35th birthday) consisting of a series of comic and dramatic misadventures. Larry, who blames all of his life's problems on the fact that he struck out during a key moment of his state high school baseball championship game on his 15th birthday, wishes he had done things differently. His wish is granted by a guardian angel-like figure named Mike (Michael Caine), and appears at various times as a bartender, a cab driver, and so on. Larry soon discovers that Mike has transferred Larry into an alternative reality in which he had won the pivotal high school game. He now finds himself rich and (within his company) powerful, and married to the boss's (Bill McCutcheon) sexy daughter Cindy Jo Bumpers (Rene Russo). At first, his new life seems perfect, but he soon begins to miss his best friend Clip Metzler (Jon Lovitz) and wife Ellen (Linda Hamilton) from his previous life; he also discovers that his alternative self has created many enemies, like Jewel Jagger (Courteney Cox), and as Larry's problems multiply, he finds himself wishing to be put back into his old life.
The story begins with Larry's car, an old Ford LTD station wagon, stalled out in a dark alley. Suddenly the pink lights of "The Universal Joint," a bar, come on. Larry goes inside to call a tow truck, and tells bartender Mike his troubles. He reviews the day he just had, which ended with his getting fired after discovering his department head Niles Pender's (Hart Bochner) scheme to sell the company under the nose of its owners to a group of naive Japanese investors. He tells Mike that he wishes he'd hit that last pitch out of the park, after which Mike fixes him a drink called "The Spilt Milk." The Spilt Milk was a drink that gave him his wish that he hit that home run in that championship game.
Larry leaves the bar, walks home (his car apparently towed) and discovers someone else living in his house, which is now fixed up (previously his yard and driveway were muddy and unfinished). Mike appears as a cab driver and drives him to his "new" home, a mansion in Forest Hills, explaining that he did in fact hit the last pitch and won the game. He soon discovers that Cindy Jo is his wife and he's the president of his company, Liberty Republic Sporting Goods. Being a classic car buff, he's shocked to find that he owns a collection of priceless antique automobiles.
Larry soon discovers that Clip has a low-level job in the accounting department and is quite insecure, as opposed to the jokester he was before. Ellen is shop steward (in both realities) and is married to another man. Jewel, a forklift operator in the previous reality, is now Larry's mistress and his secretary. Ellen hates Larry and he discovers that the union is threatening a walkout due to massive layoffs and increased production, since Niles is selling Liberty Republic in both realities. Seeing Ellen, he realizes how much he misses her and agrees to all the union's demands, providing Ellen agrees to dinner at his favorite restaurant. She reluctantly agrees, and Larry eventually convinces her that they were married in a previous life.
After discovering that Larry has agreed to union demands, Niles takes revenge, by telling both Cindy Jo and Jewel of Larry's dinner date with Ellen. He then plots to kill Larry at the office that night. However, company owner Leo Hansen arrives to deliver a note to Larry, announcing his termination, and Niles kills him by mistake. Discovering the note, Niles calls the police who attempt to arrest Larry for Leo's murder. Larry escapes while jealous Jewel creates pandemonium outside in her attempts to shoot him (and shoots out a number of police cars in the process), leading to a police chase. Larry is eventually cornered in a dark alley but the pink glow of "The Universal Joint" comes on and he runs into the bar. Unable to find Mike, Larry attempts to make the "Spilt Milk" himself, the ingredients clearly aged.
The flashing lights of the police cars appear and Larry surrenders but instead of cops, a tow truck driver named Duncan enters (the police car lights now tow truck lights). Confused at first, Larry sees Mike back behind the bar and realizes he's back in his old life. Larry thanks Mike for everything and, upon exiting the bar, suddenly realizes that the deal with the Japanese investors is happening shortly. Driven by Duncan to company headquarters, Larry barges into the boardroom, decks Niles and exposes his scheme just as Leo is about to sign the deal.
Thinking everyone forgot his birthday, Larry returns home (which still has the muddy driveway and lawn) to a surprise party with his family and friends in attendance. Soon after, Cindy Jo and her husband Jackie Earle (Jay O. Sanders), the company president arrive. Jackie offers Niles' job to Larry, plus a company car, a new Mercedes and he accepts.
Back in the past, young Larry is about to leave the stadium, still upset about the loss, when he's approached by a mysterious stranger (Mike) who reassures him that everything will be alright. Larry thanks him for the reassurance, but walks off wondering who Mike thinks he's kidding.

Review: DESTINY without giving a nod of appreciation to each and every cast member, from the goodhearted James Belushi to the murderous Courtney Cox. This movie lacks the gravitas and scale to make it a great film, but it's a fine cheer-up on a rainy afternoon.
Living the part of your life you wished were better is something that many of us have wished we could do, but for Larry Burrows, it becomes reality in "Mr. Destiny."Jim Belushi definitely played his best part in this well-done film about second chances.
Burrows is the kind of person that lets everyone go ahead of him, with out trying to get ahead himself.The chemistry between Belushi and Linda Hamilton as Ellen is very charming, something that many loving couples have.
From James Beluchi and Linda Hamilton to Michael Cane ,and we can spend the whole movie recognizing actors, wich is also fun.So i don´t have much more to say, except that i really recomend this movie.Very simple, but very good and very cute too.
Belushi gets the chance to live part of his life differently, but ends up realizing that what he had was going to be just as good or maybe even better.
Michael Caine plays a sort-of angel who lets Belush see what life would have been like if he had "made it big".
Jim is at his best with a good story and supporting cast; seems like real chemistry between him and Hamilton.
Ok, so it borrows a little from "It's a Wonderful Life", but that was 44 years prior to this film, so why not a new attempt.
He finds out when, unbeknownst to him, Caine serves up a motion potion in a glass that gives him a mansion, the prom queen (Russo) as his wife, and makes him president of the sporting goods company he's been canned from.
He never fully adjusts, and in a plot development that doesn't kill the movie but is still odd, he tries to court his wife (Hamilton) from his real life, who is now married to someone else.
The good move is that they don't spend too much time on it, as basically they rip of "Ghost", with Belushi constantly telling Hamilton things only she could know.
Also good work from the big and recognizable cast, as Belushi is very likable, VERY attractive ladies chosen, and Caine is perfectly easy going as the title guy.
Convinced that his life would have turned out better had he made a home run instead of a miss in a ball game in his high school years, he gets the chance to see how his life would have turned out had he hit that ball.
And what a difference it did make.A simple and charming little sleeper, Mr. Destiny plays it's It's a Wonderful Life scenario in good fashion.
Linda Hamilton and Michael Caine give good support and an array of familiar faces (Rene Russo, Jon Lovitz, Courtney Cox, Hart Bochner) add to the pleasure.
This movie is one of my favorites because it makes me think of all the choices I have made and how my life would change if my choices had been different.
It plays right into the " Multiple Universe " theory.The only thing that doesn't ring true is how Larry Burrows ( James Belushi)has such a hard time understanding what is going on, that everything has changed..
As far as the movie, when we made it we had no idea what it would be like but after seeing it i fell in love with it because really tells the story of "what if" as good as I ever had seen it, including the great It's a Wonderful Life.
I got to meet the wonderful actor Michael Caine while shooting scenes at an old minor league ballpark where Larry's boyhood scenes were played and replayed.
You can feel Larry's pain after he enters into the new world Mr. Destiny gives him after hitting the homer, and as he wants so badly for people to believe he is not this bad guy everyone thinks he is.
But eventually he wins people over but by then he wants his real life back so badly, especially his wonderful wife, played so beautifully by Linda Hamilton..and he wants his dog back!
I actually like this movie even though I don't fancy James Belushi very much.
In this movie, you can actually see several big names on the rise, Linda Hamilton and Courteney Cox namely; Caine's was already big of course.
Michael Cane is the mysterious bar tender who not only listens to Belushi's "story", but has a "cure" for all of Belushi's middle class problems: A magic potion to bring about an avalanche of changes in Belushi's life.Flashbacks show a 15 year old horribly ashamed of causing his High School Baseball Team's Championship defeat.
Reading the various external reviews of Roger Ebert and other well-known film critics makes me hesitate to admit how much I love this movie, even though I only have a dubbed-into-Japanese video version of it.Apparently, many critics seem to take it as a minus that the story premise has been used before, most famously in the very great "It's a Wonderful Life." To me, a great premise is a great premise no matter how many times it's used, and I'd be happy to see more movies using this particular premise--the discontented man who gets a chance to gain a fresh perspective on his own life through a bit of "divine magic."I suppose folks and critics of a more intellectual bent are not as pulled into the story, but I don't go to movies to critique them with notebook in hand--I go to movies to throw myself into them and let them take me where they will.
Jim Belushi does a great job as an "average Joe" kind of guy who wonders if his life hasn't gone as it should.
James "I did some things to Farrah Fawcett" Orr co-wrote and directed this movie about an ordinary, average guynamed Larry Burrows who thinks his life would have beenincredibly different if he hit a homerun at a key baseball gamewhen he was 15.
But thanks to mysterious and magical bartenderMike, Larry gets his wish, yet soon realizes that his new lifeisn't exactly as he hoped it would be.I must say, this movie really impressed me.
An obvious remaking of It's a Wonderful Life, this movie tries very hard to endear itself to us, and it kind of succeeds.
I guess he remembers this seemingly small moment of his life because it made a big impact on his subconscious side, but I doubt a grown man would yearn for one single act from high school.
And the most surprising fact of all is that with his new life, that Larry has always wanted...he finds himself lusting after his old wife, Linda Hamilton; proof that sometimes money and a great-looking yet shallow wife don't make up everything in a man's life, like an intelligent wife and love and true happiness.
Just like "It's a Wonderful Life" showed the audience a man's life is what he makes it, and that every person has an impact on people, "Mr. Destiny" shows us that material wealth is not the same as spiritual wealth, a lesson taught us over and over again, but never quite so fluffy, forgettable and truly sweet as it is shown us in "Mr. Destiny.""Mr. Destiny" is never exceedingly hilarious, but it is a sweet, good-natured comedy that never takes itself too seriously.
But there are only so many times you can single-handedly rip off a famous film, and "Mr. Destiny" knows this, and plays right to the fact.
But there are only so many times you can single-handedly rip off a famous film, and "Mr. Destiny" knows this, and plays right to the fact.
James Belushi plays his usual loveable role as a man that has his past changed by Michael Caine and then has to live with the results.The supporting cast would now probably cost more to employ than the movie did to make.
Courtney Cox of Friends fame, Rene Russo from Lethal Weapon (ironically alongside the woman who parodied her in National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 in the form of Kathy Ireland), Linda Hamilton and Jon Lovitz all turn in good performances in a movie which gives us a glimpse of the stars before they were bankable.Overall, the movie will not be remembered as anyones best, as its poor showing at the box office suggests, but equally all the cast have made worse.
Jim Belushi is such a likable actor, I can't recall anything I've seen with him that I didn't enjoy...He's an everyday Joe...This movie is fun, it's no masterpiece of film by any measure but, for an hour or so of escapism and a decent bit of entertainment its worth a view.It's an homage to the beginning of the end of an era...No internet jokes, no stupid cell phone references, barely PC stuff...The message is to just enjoy what you have...That's a message well learned...In conclusion, Just grab your popcorn and a beer or whatever, sit back and watch...From 2017 aug..
Walking into the nearest bar to wait for the tow truck, Larry happens upon barman Mike, who unbeknown to Larry is about to change his life for ever.......The alternate life premise in cinema is hardly a new thing, stretching back to the likes of It's A Wonderful Life and showing no signs of abating with the quite recent Sandler vehicle that was Click.
Kinda re-worked version of 'It's a Wonderful Life" With James Belushi as Larry a man who constantly thinks what his life could have been like if only he'd hit the home run in that crucial baseball game as kid.
Michael Caine offers him the chance to live his life as if he had, and even with the big house, prom queen wife and kids, Larry still misses the way things were.
Maybe a old story and certainly not a classic, but it does have it's moments as Belushi enters his new office, in life version 2, he approches a desk that looks like the bridge of the Enterprise, not finding an on/off switch he sits down and as all the lights come on comments in surprise "hey whadda know, my desk is wired to my ass!!" and as he scares the life out of the chauffeur by screaching to a halt in the company parking lot with the word "See I told you we'd beat that train didn't I All the cast do pretty well, Belushi as the confused Larry, not quite sure if the new version of his life is what he really wants, Linda Hamilton as his original wife, who seems to be the thing Belushi misess most, Rene Russo as the prom queen wife Belushi gets in life 2, and Courntey Cox as a psychotic spurned secretary/fork lift driver, who is having an affair with Larry in life 2, but of course Larry doesn't know this.Most of the cast are big names now and probably make more in one film that the entire budget of this one, still it's fun to watch.
I am not exactly huge fans of any of the people involved in "Mr. Destiny," but fantasy films with creative plots have the tendacy to win me over, despite the cast(such is also the case for the film "Delirious.")James Belushi stars as a "loser" who thinks his life might have been just a little bit better if he had just hit the winning home run in a high school baseball game.
In this movie, Jim Belushi gets to see how his life would have been if he HAD hid that home run back in high school.
He would have been married to rich prom queen Rene Russo (excellent!!), instead of labor-representative-woman-of-the-people Linda Hamilton (pre-buff era, but still great looking), He would be rich and live in the Biltmore mansion in N.
It kind of became a "therapy" for me with a personal experience of my own.A thirty-five year old man laments over a high-school baseball game in which he "missed the ball" and his team lost.
He thinks about it 20 years later, "if only I'd hit that ball" and how his life would be better because of it.
That was in 1987.Through the years, even now sometimes, I think "If only I hadn't hit my leg I would've never worn those stupid tights." Now I don't sit and think my life would be any better or even any different had I made it, but seeing this movie made me realize that we never really know how different things may be by changing one little thing way back in the past.
The relationship they have in his first life is much like the relationships men have with their best friends.I also enjoyed Jim Belushi's narration: "Why is it that every time you have your best friend in a headlock and kissing him on top of the head, a beautiful woman shows up?"One good highlight in this movie:  Rene Russo in lingerie!
Jim Belushi is having a mid life crisis, nothing is going right, when his car goes out on him..he goes into an empty bar where Michael Caine shows him what life wouldve been like if one event in high school had come out differently..
The intended lesson "you never know what you have until you've lost it" is itself lost under a heap of garbage that largely just shows Belushi's character to be self-serving and ignorant, making you wonder why Mike/Mr. Destiny takes such pains to grant him any appreciation for his life which, even from the beginning, showed no real setbacks.
A number of reviewers viewed this as a remake of the 1946 Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life." But the alternative in that film was that the lead character had never been born.
This one has a change of life pivot on a baseball game and one pitch to a 15-year-old ball player, Larry Burrows.
Most of the movie is with the grown up Burrows, 15 years later, played by Jim Belushi.
The film has a great cast that, besides Belushi, includes Michael Caine, Linda Hamilton, Jon Lovitz, and Hart Bochner.
Amazing for I have seen the first half of this movie 3 times, and finally watched the ending on TBS..
So now I finally got to watch "Mr Destiny", in which the version of the music I heard never actually appears at all (even if there are certain - lesser - variations on that theme!And that strange circumstance maybe tells one most of what one needs to know about this James Belushi-Michael Caine-Linda Hamilton (and gorgeous Courtney Cox) movie, which - from today's perspective anyway - seems mainly trite, implausible, tame, lame and neither quite funny enough, nor quite thoughtful enough.
And in the end that's a pity, because Belushi's Larry Burrows character comes over as reasonably genuine, and there are hints in here of a better movie trying to get out.
James Belushi, Linda Hamilton, Hart Bochner, Jon Lovitz and Michael Caine star in this 1990 fantasy-comedy.
Belushi (The Principal) plays Larry, a mild-mannered guy who likes his life, but wishes what it would've been like if he had hit a baseball years prior.
This is a good film that obviously resembles "It's a Wonderful Life," Belushi is great in it as well as David Newman's score.
James Belushi delivers an ingratiating performance as Larry Burrows, an average-Joe junior executive at a sporting goods company who just can't live down a pivotal moment in his life.
Now, he has a pleasant life, married to a union rep (an adorable Linda Hamilton), but he still always wonders about what could have been.Then, during one bad night (the night of his 35th birthday), he chances to meet magical bartender Mike (Sir Michael Caine), who is somehow able to transport Larry to an alternate reality where Larry hits the winning ball, marries the prom queen (Rene Russo), and is the president of the company.
Much humour is derived from Larry (who still retains his original personality, flummoxed that he could have turned into such a jerk) adjusting to a new life.Sir Michael is just right in the role of the "destiny-bender", maintaining a light touch at all times.
At that point in the film, Belushi's character is going through all sorts of emotions, and you feel like you're on the roller-coaster with him.The film is often predictable and doesn't have that many laugh-out-loud moments, BUT the direction is sharp, and the film is undeniably fun.I love all the heart and meaning, and the casting really pulls the whole thing together.Belushi is the king of under-rated B movies.
The main character gives us an answer at one point, but I think it would be ten times better if it was made 10-15 years later and done a totally different way.
While there are a lot of clichés and some avoidable jokes, the cast and script are solid enough to entertain and this is a legit feel good, full of morality and spirituality movie.Belushi acts well as the guy who has been haunted by missing this ball during this fateful night but it's Michael Caine who plays the most intriguing character...As Mister DESTINY !I Love the scenes in this bar coming out of nowhere and at night.
The key is that their behavior and level of antagonism is reflective of the different actions and personalities of John Belushi, which, in an interesting twist, makes him the villain.The potential of the Rene Russo character is a little lost, one problem with the weight of the movie is that Belushi is in his altered life as a visitor, and the potential feelings (good or bad) he has built for 10-15 years with his other-dimensional wife (Russo) are not present in him, only implied.Another thing that isn't addressed is the sheer insult to Linda Hamilton by having him want out of his life.