History Film / HeavenCanWait1978

* PoliceAreUseless: The detective assigned to [[spoiler:Farnsworth's murder]] largely ignores Max and Betty's claims about the suspects, spends an unusually long time obsessing over Farnsworth's decision not to wear hats anymore [[spoiler:but in fact was waiting for the right moment to have Max tell Julia and Tony that he knows details about their first attempt to murder Farnsworth. When confronted with that and Farnsworth's jacket found in the well they quickly turn on each other.]]

-->'''Joe Pendleton:''' Oh, dear.

* ItIsNotYourTime: The Escort plucks Joe up to heaven, because he thought the truck was going to hit him. But Joe wasn't scheduled to due until 2025 and the Escort wound up cheating him out of 47 years of mortal life. So Mr. Jordan has to find Joe another body.

The story follows Joe Pendleton (Beatty), a backup quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams. His trainer Max Corkel (Warden) celebrates his birthday with him and then informs him that he will become starting quarterback in the next game. On his way by bicycle to the game he is involved in a collision with a van and a truck in a tunnel. An "escort" angel on his first assignment (Henry) plucks Joe out of his body before he is actually hit by the truck, and Pendleton arrives at a "waystation" in the afterlife, waiting to board a plane for his "final destination". At first thinking he's dreaming, Joe insists that he shouldn't be there, and a check of the schedule reveals that he's not due to die until 2025 - if he had been left in his body he would have managed to avoid the collision with the truck. Senior angel Mr. Jordan (Mason) agrees that Joe needs to be immediately returned to his body, but Joe and his escort arrive back on Earth at his funeral only to discover that his body has been cremated. Mr. Jordan tells him that he can be put in the body of another man who has been killed and live the rest of his life there. They view several that Joe finds unacceptable because they would not make good football players, and he intends to be the quarterback that leads the Rams to a Super Bowl Victory. While viewing Leo Farnsworth, a millionaire who has been drugged by his wife Julia (Cannon) and private secretary Tony Abbot (Grodin) and is about to drown in the bathtub, Joe sees Betty Logan (Christie), a woman from the small English town of Paggelsham who is here to protest the building of a refinery by Farnsworth's company which will displace the town's entire population.

* TheRemake: Both is a remake (of a play) and has a remake.

** Chekhov's Cannon. The cannon at Farnsworth's mansion that gets fired after flags are raised and lowered each morning and evening seems like an OverlyLongGag when it keeps getting shown in the film, but [[spoiler:Tony ends up using the cannon blast as a cover for the fatal gunshot he aims at Joe in Leo's body]].

** Joe has a saxophone which he takes with him into the afterlife and has as Leo Farnsworth. [[spoiler:When he becomes Tom Jarrett and looses his memory of Joe Penleton he leaves it in locker room as a sign that Joe has now become Tom Jarrett and doesn't remember anything about his past lives]].

* DreadfulMusician: Joe plays the same song on a saxophone over and over again throughout the movie, badly.

The story follows Joe Pendleton (Beatty), a backup quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams. His trainer Max Corkel (Warden) celebrates his birthday with him and then informs him that he will become starting quarterback in the next game. On his way by bicycle to the game he is involved in a collision with a van and a truck in a tunnel. An "escort" angel on his first assignment (Henry) plucks Joe out of his body before he is actually hit by the truck, and Pendleton arrives at a "waystation" in the afterlife, waiting to board a plane for his "final destination". At first thinking he's dreaming, Joe insists that he shouldn't be there, and a check of the schedule reveals that he's not due to die until 2025 - if he had been left in his body he would have managed to avoid the collision with the truck. Senior angel Mr. Jordan (Mason) agrees that Joe needs to be immediately returned to his body, but Joe and his escort arrive back on Earth at his funeral only to discover that his body has been cremated. Mr. Jordan tells him that he can be put in the body of another man who has been killed and live the rest of his life there. They view several that Joe finds unacceptable because they would not make good football players, and he intends to be the quarterback that leads the Rams to a Super Bowl Victory. While viewing Leo Farnsworth, a millionaire who has been drugged by his wife Julia (Cannon) and private secretary Tony Abbot (Grodin) and is about to drown in the bathtub, Joe sees Betty Logan (Christie), a woman from the small English town of Pagelsham who is here to protest the building of a refinery by Farnsworth's company which will displace the town's entire population.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The question of whether Joe's board meeting appearance as Leo Farnsworth was enough to prevent the refinery from ever being built in Pagelsham is left unanswered in the film.

-->'''Tony''' Am I upsetting you? Have I offended you in some way?
-->'''Julia''' Don't put your hand over my mouth again.
-->'''Tony Abbott''' I'm sorry, darling. You used to like it.

* DeadlyBath: Leo Farnsworth is murdered when his private secretary gives him a drugged nose spray just before his bath, so that he loses consciousness and drowns in the tub. Then Joe steps in...

-->'''Julia''' He's toying with us. Do you think he's really playing that saxophone? There's a little tape recorder inside. That's why we keep hearing the same song over and over again. It's like those idiot costumes of his.

-->'''Bentley''' I noticed there are two cups.
-->'''Everett''' Well, Sisk felt that since Mr. Farnsworth was pretending to talk to someone, he might want to pretend to give him cocoa, too.

-->'''Tony''' Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Farnsworth. Mrs. Farnsworth saw a mouse.
-->'''Betty''' She just saw a mouse?
-->'''Tony''' No. Before. Outside. But she relives it.

-->'''Joe''' Mr. Jordan!
-->'''Max''' Someone there?
-->'''Joe''' That's Mr. Jordan. He's right there! You can't see him Max, you're still alive.

-->'''Joe Pendleton''': Oh, dear.

-->'''Joe as Farnsworth''': Why have I got so many of these sailor outfits?
-->'''Sisk''': Well sir, you have always fancied the sea.
-->'''Joe as Farnsworth''': Uh-huh. Do I...sail?
-->'''Sisk''': Not really, sir.

* TheGhost: The real Leo Farnsworth never appears on screen. When Joe takes his body we still see Warren Beatty. [[spoiler:The original Tom Jarrett is mentioned several times but never appears either before he's played by Beatty as Joe in Jarrett's body.]]

* RasputinianDeath: How Tony and Julia view Leo (unaware that he's receiving supernatural help).
* TheRemake: Both is a remake and has a remake.

-->'''Tony'' Am I upsetting you? Have I offended you in some way?

* BittersweetEnding: Joe [[spoiler: takes over for the Ram's quarterback Tom Jarrett after he dies on the field, and wins the Super Bowl, but just after he confirms to Max that it's him in Jarrett's body Mr. Jordan informs him he has to loose the memories of his old life and become Tom Jarrett, meaning that he doesn't remember Betty when he meets her as Tom. She seems to recognize something in him, however, and the movie ends with the hopeful note that they'll fall in love again as they leave the stadium together.]] It's just plain bitter for poor Max, [[spoiler: who loses his best friend twice.]]

-->'''Betty''' She saw a mouse? In this room?
-->'''Tony''' No, before. She relives it.
* EyesAreMental: Joe makes a reference to how maybe, if Betty sees him again, she'll see something in his eyes and recognize him. At the end she seems to do just that, when she takes a good look at Joe in Tom Jarrett's body.

* EekAMouse: Tony claims this was the reason that Julia screamed when she saw Fansworth still alive. When asked "in this room?" he replies "no, before. She relives it."

* TheGhost: The real Leo Farnsworth never appears on screen. When Joe takes his body we still see Warren Beatty. [[spoiler:The original Tom Jarrett is mentioned several times but never appears either.]]

The story follows Joe Pendleton (Beatty), a backup quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams. His trainer Max Corkel (Warden) celebrates his birthday with him and then informs him that he will become starting quarterback in the next game. On his way by bicycle to the game he is involved in a collision with a van and a truck in a tunnel. An "escort" angel on his first assignment (Henry) plucks Joe out of his body before he is actually hit by the truck, and Pendleton arrives at a "waystation" in the afterlife, waiting to board a plane for his "final destination". At first thinking he's dreaming, Joe insists that he shouldn't be there, and a check of the schedule reveals that he's not due to die until 2025 - if he had been left in his body he would have managed to avoid the collision with the truck. Senior angel Mr. Jordan (Mason) agrees that Joe needs to be immediately returned to his body, but Joe and his escort arrive back on Earth at his funeral only to discover that his body has been cremated. Mr. Jordan tells him that he can be put in the body of another man who has been killed and live the rest of his life there. They view several that Joe finds unacceptable because they would not make good football players, and he intends to be the quarterback that leads the Rams to a Super Bowl Victory. Finally while viewing Leo Farnsworth, a millionaire who had been drowned by his wife Julia (Cannon) and private secretary Tony Abbot (Grodin), Joe sees Betty Logan (Christie), a woman from a small English town who is here to protest the building of a refinery by Farnsworth's company.

* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: The whole plot starts from ab escort angel snatching out Joe's soul for his body right before the pile-up due to wanting to spare him some pain, when he wouldn't have actually died.

* MayDecemberRomance: Subverted; Joe's around Betty's age, but Farnsworth's age is never specified. He might be quite a bit older.

* TheComicallySerious: The butlers and maids at Farnsworth's house, as they deal with his eccentricities.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The real Farnsworth and his board of directors have plenty of dangerous and environmentally unsound stuff going on.
* DivorceRequiresDeath: California is a community proper state, so it would seem that Julia could just divorce Farnsworth and get half. But no, she wants to kill him and get it all.
** She does reference signing an unfavorable pre-nup though.
* EccentricMillionaire: Leo Farnsworth was one already, but Joe occupying his body turns it up for everyone who knows him.
* EekAMouse: Tony claims this was the reason that Julia screamed when she saw Fansworth still alive.

* MayDecemberRomance: Subverted; Joe's around Betty's age, but the body he's occupying... isn't.
* AMillionIsAStatistic: Joe is saddened when [[spoiler:The second new body he gets is his teammate Jarrett, as he had wished the man well in spite of his desire to have a new body as an athlete]].

* OffIntoTheDistanceEnding: Ends with Joe, who has now become Tom Jarrett and forgotten his old life, walking off with Betty into a MaybeEverAfter future.
* PoliceAreUseless: The detective assigned to [[spoiler:Farnsworth's murder]] largely ignores Max and Betty's claims about the suspects, spends an unusually long time obsessing over Farnsworth's decision not to wear hats anymore and [[spoiler:closes the case largely by luck when a gardener finds a piece of evidence while the detective is still barking up the wrong tree]].

* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: The whole plot starts from a escort angel snatching out Joe's soul for his body right before the pile-up due to wanting to spare him some pain, when he wouldn't have actually died.
* UnconventionalSmoothie: It seems that a "liver and whey" shake is part of Joe's training regimen. He also throws in some alfalfa and bean curd.

* BittersweetEnding: Joe [[spoiler: takes over for the Ram's quarterback Tom Jarrett after he dies on the field, and wins the Super Bowl, but just after he confirms to Max that it's him in Jarrett's body Mr. Jordan removes the memories of his old life, meaning that he doesn't remember Betty when he meets her as Tom. She seems to recognize something in him, however, and the movie ends with the hopeful note that they'll fall in love again as they leave the stadium together.]] It's just plain bitter for poor Max, [[spoiler: who effectively loses his best friend twice.]]

* CallBack: After finding out that he's probably going to have to leave the body of Farnsworth behind, Joe embraces Betty and says "There's nothing to be afraid of." At the end of the movie, when the lights are turned off in the Coliseum, Joe-as-Tom-Jarrett takes her hand and says the same words, which strikes Betty as something very familiar.

** Chekhov's Cannon. The cannon at Farnsworth's mansion that gets fired after flags are raised and lowered seems confusing when it keeps getting shown earlier in the film, but [[spoiler:Tony ends up using the cannon blast as a cover for the fatal gunshot he aims at Leo]].
** Joe's saxophone [[spoiler:which in the final locker room scene becomes important as a sign that Joe has now become Tom Jarrett and doesn't remember anything about his past lives]].

The story follows Joe Pendleton (Beatty), a backup quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, who is looking forward to leading his team to the Super Bowl when he is involved in a terrible collision with a truck. A guardian angel on his first assignment (Henry) plucks Joe out of his body early in the mistaken belief that his death is imminent, and Pendleton arrives in the afterlife. It is then decided that Pendleton was taken too soon, but as it is too late to return him to his former body--which has already been cremated--he is given a second chance as a millionaire who had been drowned by his lover and secretary. The film follows him taking this opportunity to live the life he missed out on.

''Heaven Can Wait'' earned nine UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations, winning for Best Art Direction. Beatty and Cannon won [[UsefulNotes/GoldenGlobeAward Golden Globes]] for their performances, as did the film for Best Picture-Comedy or Musical. As noted above, it's a remake of ''Here Comes Mr. Jordan'', and thus has no connection with the 1943 Creator/ErnstLubitsch movie ''Film/{{Heaven Can Wait|1943}}''.

* AfterlifeAntechamber: What looks like "Heaven" is only a waiting room for the final trip.
* AfterlifeExpress: The final trip to Heaven would have been taken aboard a Concorde SST.
* AttendingYourOwnFuneral: How Joe manages to convince his coach that it's really him in Leo's body.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Joe finally has the body he wants in Jarrett, who had just died in a freak accident on the field, but he no longer has memories of his old life, meaning that he can't remember Betty. Though the movie ends with a hopeful note that they'll fall in love again as they leave together.]]

* BodySurf: While waiting for a suitable body, Joe is parked in the body of an elderly millionaire.