Winner Aug '01

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Other Winners & How to Win!

Heart and Souls

Posted by: Leda (LEDA74)

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Inspired by the thread entitled "Favorite Robert Downey Jr performance?", I'd like to bring everyone's attention to a marvellous (and obviously neglected) movie that I had the fortune to catch last night.

I'd never heard of "Heart and Souls", despite having followed Robert's career with some interest since my late teens. Released in 1993, it brings us the tale of Thomas Reilly, born in his parents' car at the scene of a fatal bus crash. The spirits of the four passengers on the bus are drawn to the newborn Thomas, and as time passes, find that they are unable to move from his side. Thomas loves having these four friends, despite the occasional inconvenience caused by the fact that he is the only one who can see them, and the consternation of his parents - who are despairing at seeing their young son laughing at the wall.

There is Milo, a small-time crook who underneath the petty larceny and big talk, is a man with the desire to do good. There's Julia, a breezy but ultimately lonely young waitress. There's Penny, a mother of three small children who after her death, has become Thomas's second mom. And last there's Harrison, a singer who in his life, never quite managed to conquer his ever-present stage fright.

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When he is seven, finally coming to the understanding that their presence is making his young life increasingly difficult, the four decide to "fade away" and leave Thomas to live the way any other little boy should. However, they watch his life unfold from a distance... only to find that almost thirty years later, they have to step back into Thomas's life to seek his help with resolving their own affairs...

The characters could so easily have been, well, ghostly, I suppose you might say. A plot such as this is easy to turn into cheap slapstick or, if taken too far the other way, into nauseating melodrama. There's a fine line there which is rarely found, but in this case, the balance is wonderfully struck. I was particularly mesmerised, as always, by Alfre Woodard as Penny, whose only desire is to find her children, separated and adopted after her untimely death.

My only complaint is that Charles Grodin, playing Harrison, seemed somewhat under-used in this movie, but seeing as he has always been one of my very favourite actors, any screen time is a quiet delight for me :)

I normally dislike what you might call Movies With A Moral. But in this case, the principle expressed is so much of a plain and basic truth that it's impossible to turn aside. It pushes the philosophy, gently but firmly, that it's never too late to do what needs to be done in your own life, if you realise that now is always the right time to be doing it. And in the end, it also reminds you that sometimes, and despite the common human failing of resisting any guidance, the best advice can come from those who have already been there.

- Leda

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