Heaven Can Wait

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Heaven Can Wait

PG

1978

1h 41m

Comedy

Fantasy

Romance

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

84%

Tomatometer

50 Reviews

69%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty), quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, is killed in an auto accident. In the afterlife, Joe discovers that his guardian angel (Buck Henry) has taken him from his body prematurely, and he is due many more years on earth. Unable to return to his body, Joe assumes the form of greedy multimillionaire industrialist Leo Farnsworth. As Farnsworth, Joe attempts a return to football and falls in love with environmental activist Betty Logan (Julie Christie).

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Critics Consensus

A throwback to the high-gloss screwball comedies of the 1940s, Heaven Can Wait beguiles with seamless production values and great comic relief from Charles Grodin and Dianne Cannon.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

Sep 18, 2023

The film has no desire but to please, and that’s its only compulsiveness; it’s so timed and pleated and smoothed that it’s sliding right off the screen.

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Nicholas Wapshott

The Times (UK)

Jul 13, 2020

Beatty can carry off this sort of whimsy by playing it straight and keeping the ludicrous premise credible. But the film is dogged by the nagging vision of what might have been.

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Judith Martin

Washington Post

Aug 30, 2016

This is a very sweet movie to watch, the pleasant cinematic equivalent of light summer reading.

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Apr 14, 2026

6/10

In its 100-plus minutes, I get the feeling that it's a fantasy comedy that lacks a certain celestial charm and suffers from narrative inconsistencies, even with the chemistry between Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. [Full review in Spanish]

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Jul 15, 2025

3/10

Far more detrimental than the general blandness of the body-swapping, career-swapping, and woman-swapping is the humor, which remains pitifully minimal.

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Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

Feb 2, 2024

5/5

Heaven Can Wait holds up as one of the best films of 1978 and remains a timeless classic.

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lolblog T

@RT47829063 6 days ago

it seems like the plot of the movie was written by a 6 year old with fantasies about god and the after life, only a person with a very low intelligence can achieve this. painful to watch, i had a very bad time. 0 out of 10

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 11, 2026

Heaven Can Wait = a 3.5 star Movie

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Jason H

@RT50328122 Aug 10, 2026

It's decent, but I probably won't watch it again.

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Diane M

@RT16029453 Mar 7, 2026

I've watched it about 10 times and still love it

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Mark P.

@Beachhut Jan 26, 2026

Fun, lighthearted sports movie for late teenagers , plus.

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Ed .

@RT01276001 Aug 22, 2025

When Heaven Can Wait came out in the theaters, I couldn't wait to see it, and thought it was very funny. When I viewed it again some years later, I thought it was charming. Watching it again today, I realize how silly this movie is. I'm not an athlete nor an industrialist, but I have at least a basic level of common sense. A quarterback who may never have taken any business classes nor had any related experience still has a sharp sense of thinking, planning and strategizing. I find it hard to believe any QB would act so childish as Warren Beatty's character. What I ignored as an 11 yr old and rationalized as a young adult cannot be swept aside any longer. However, Dyan Cannon is just as fantastic. If you watch this movie, watch it for her scenes.

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Warren Beatty

Director

Buck Henry

Director

Warren Beatty

Joe Pendleton

Julie Christie

Betty Logan

Jack Warden

Max Corkle

James Mason

Mr. Jordan

Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - Deja Vu

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Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - How Heaven Works

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Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - Heaven Can Wait

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Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - An Airplane Dream

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Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - Anxious Conspirators

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Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - I Don't Frighten Anybody

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Heaven Can Wait: Official Clip - Picking a New Body

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Synopsis

Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty), quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams, is killed in an auto accident. In the afterlife, Joe discovers that his guardian angel (Buck Henry) has taken him from his body prematurely, and he is due many more years on earth. Unable to return to his body, Joe assumes the form of greedy multimillionaire industrialist Leo Farnsworth. As Farnsworth, Joe attempts a return to football and falls in love with environmental activist Betty Logan (Julie Christie).

Director: Warren Beatty, Buck Henry
Producer: Warren Beatty
Screenwriter: Elaine May, Warren Beatty
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 28, 1978, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2017
Runtime: 1h 41m
Sound Mix: Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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