Defending Your Life

It has a very interesting premise, the cast is great, and there's a lot of decent humor, but the romance makes zero sense. Still enjoyable, though.

This movie is all over the place. Sometimes it's really deep and funny and interesting and other times the jokes and ideas completely miss the mark. The ending isn't great and the romance was unbelievable. Rip Torn is excellent and I love all the flashback stuff. Could've been something really special but it's just a good, forgettable movie.

It's got some funny stuff, but I'm not so into it now. The romance is really hard to swallow. Actually, it's a bit narcissistic of Brooks, even if in a self-deprecating way. He's a shallow, nervous loser at life and she's confident, giving, nearly a saint... but she falls head over heels for him immediately because he tells a couple of good jokes?

The premise is one of my favorites in any movie I've ever seen, particularly impressive given that it is a romantic comedy. It has some great jokes, as well. What prevents this from reaching its full potential is that the romance isn't nearly as well done as one would like.

Interesting take on the afterlife. Very funny, as you'd expect from Brooks. But I will echo what others have said about the romance not being entirely believable.

Imperfect, like all of Brooks's movies, but full of funny ideas and hard to dislike.

Despite the plot not exactly being cliche, the film still felt cookie cutter. Sterile. About as plain as white bread. Meryl Streep is Meryl Streep and I'm sure there is a 'greater life lesson' about it all but I just couldn't get too much into this one. Shout out Rip Torn tho.

The nicely spoofy tone at the outset left me looking forward to more of the same. Unfortunately though, we end up getting caught up in a goofy love story that seemed pretty much grafted on to the rest of the proceedings. Meryl takes her assignment in graceful stride, but Brooks appears to be trying awful hard to play up his big chance to make Christmas Movie history or something. At any rate, Streep is wonderfully attractive...and you can watch this one over and over without gaining an ounce. :)

In the afterlife, Albert Brooks (long may he live) will probably be forced to answer for this foray into the cheesy afterlife-judgment comedy trope. In his version, the trial revolves around an association of intelligence with fearlessness which couldn't be more wrong, but was obviously construed to prop up the romantic finale. Not much of it works as intended, and it pales in comparison to his brilliant 80s stuff, but for a misstep, it's still an enjoyable movie.

Some typical Brooks self-deprecating laughs to be had, but this felt pretty clunky to me. The satire felt too watered down and the romance was unconvincin, even Rip Torn is not allowed to let rip.

Brooks is at his best here: charming, witty without falling too much into self-deprecation, acutely observant of the universe, and armed with an awesome concept.

Interesting concept and for the most part this movie pulls it off. Rip Torn is great.

Gentle is the word. If you like that sort of thing. I do here.

I am not a big Meryl Streep fan, never have been, but I've always liked Albert Brooks. Together here, in a story about second chances, they work well together. This is an underrated gem.

Holyshitmeryl+Youwouldntunderstand,idontmeanthatasaninsultimeanitliterallylool+merylsogreat+shouldbejustprettyenoughtoturnyouonanyexcessisproblemslol+i'matthecontinentalcomeoveronedaywe'llpaintitlmao+ithoughtheleftonhisownlool+takeapiss!+ilovethatit'saboutfear+lmaonowaytheycouldbeinlove+runningtomerylisNOTenoughprooflmaotheyshouldajustletthembetogether+hecouldabeenusing0%ofhisbrainandmadethatdecision

Having just read The Divine Comedy, I was looking forward to another take on the after-death experience. I'll buy that one stands in judgment; the criteria here seem rather haphazardly chosen. And while Brooks is certainly funny, I can't take him seriously enough as a romantic lead. I was laughing throughout (fav scenes are the prior lives and the ending Frogger sequence) but there's not enough here for it to be a favorite.

What starts as a pretty interesting concept for the afterlife eventually devolves into romcom nonsense. Albert Brooks always writes and portrays characters who are a little too smart and Defending Your Life is no exception. The movie is quite funny and I did enjoy the ride even though this concept is practically begging for more.

Fortune favours the bold! But so does bankruptcy and ruin.

Sanitized look at what could have been a very interesting concept. A lot of pandering to what the audience wants. Some funny moments and good acting.

Pretty cool concept, I just wish the main character learned his lesson sooner. It got quite frustrating, honestly.

Not as perfect as I thought it was when I was a kid, but I still damn well cried at the end (like every time).

While the movie and it's execution do make for a pretty decent time, I found the principle trait that the afterlife judges a life by to be puzzling. Is the most important thing in life really to live without fear? What about morality? Seems like a bygone product of the me-first decade.

Um Visto para o Céu estreava há 30 anos nos EUA. Esse filme sempre passava na Sessão da Tarde nos anos 90, mas nunca tive interesse suficiente para assistir, embora seja um filme menos insuportável do Brook, muito devido à presença de La Streep. WEBRip RARBG.

I'll pretend that ending has never happened.

Defending Your Life is two movies: A reflection of decisions made over a lifetime and a romance. The latter of these is brief and certainly not very compelling. While Meryl Streep is charming she just kind of happens. Albert Brooks is less smarmy than previous roles and is quite endearing as a confused, recently deceased, average guy. His "non-trial" is compelling and quite funny. I really liked this.

A fascinating, beautifully constructed satiric view of 'heaven' and the Afterlife starts out so intelligently, and provocatively, that it's a shame that it shifts focus to the less interesting romance between Brooks and Streep, who are never quite convincing as a couple; the reduction of 'life's worth' to abstractedly "conquering your fears" feels like the worst sort of glib leftover from the 80s self help craze. Still, performances are uniformly fine and enjoyable, especially Torn and Grant.

I like movies like where I can't exactly explain why I liked it so much. The 2 hours just flew by.

watched: 2017, 2021

How are you supposed to show improvement in your life if you don't remember anything from your past lives? At least he got to score some good afterlife sex with Meryl Streep, who would never sleep with a guy that looked like Albert Brooks in real life.

I didn't really find much in this movie worth watching.

Great, unique romantic comedy with a strong cast and a great concept. Albert Brooks is seriously a genius and if you still haven't given his films the time of day, you should be ashamed of yourself as a fanatic of film.

Albert Brooks' best!

Often funny, but just as often I wondered what they were doing that was entertaining here.

This is a light entertaining movie about afterlife; it is shown in in a somehow interesting scenario. The story and acting is not really something special, but I watched it when I was a child and some of its subjects have stuck like if you let fright command your life you will never advance

Ya olumden sonra hayat degil de baska bir sey karsimiza cikarsa?

Uneven but charming enough and Rip Torn was funny.

Didn't know what to make of it at first. In the end, it was just a very good film that one needs to see in order to understand why it's a very good film.

A gentle, likable Albert Brooks comedy about the afterlife. Meryl Streep has the unenviable task--which she executes well--of playing an unqualifiedly good person.

Very interesting but in my mind I expected the ending for the most part. It was a great movie though.

Rip Torn: "Wrap it up"

90s Albert Brooks is a good indicator to why nobody cares about this guy anymore.

This is an odd kind of set up for a movie. In the end it's a bit of a feel-good movie.

Never would have thought Albert Brooks would do a fantasy film, but this really works

tedious

amusing

Such a strange movie. Lots of fascinating parts, but ultimately is it really on our fears that we will be judged?

Pretty lame.

Cute