The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Starring:Jon Voight, Emy Aneke, Steven Grayhm, Janine Sabino-Albom, Nicaela & Shelbie Weigel, Ellen Burstyn, Liam Hilder, Damon Johnson, Dagmara Dominczyk, Billy Wickman, Anthony De Marco, Taku Kawai, Jeff Daniels, Tim O'Halloran, Kurt Doss, Callahan Brebner, Megan McKinnon, Darcy Cadman, Ava Hughes, Rebecca Jenkins
Director: Lloyd Kramer
Studio: Lions Gate
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Based on the bestseller by Mitch Albom (Tuesdays With Morrie), The Five People You Meet in Heaven takes up where It's A Wonderful Life left off. In the Capra classic, George Bailey gets a vision of life without him. In this Hallmark Hall of Fame production, Eddie (Jon Voight), an amusement park maintenance man and war veteran, ends up in Heaven after an accident takes his life. There he meets five people from his past: the Blue Man (Jeff Richards), the Captain (Michael Imperioli), Marguerite (Dagmara Dominczyk), Ruby (Ellen Burstyn), and Tala (Nicaela and Shelbie Weigel). Each shows him how he impacted their life or they his--and not always for the better. (In these flashbacks, Callahan Brebner and Steven Grayhm play the young Eddie.) The point may seem simplistic--everyone is connected--but The Five People You Meet in Heaven finds a unique and engaging way to make it. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews:

An Amazing movie.......2007-06-24

I thought this was such a beautiful film about life, love, and loss. It really made me cry, especially the part where Eddie sees his wife again and she says "Life has to end, Eddie. Love doesn't." And that even in heaven she still loved him and she still felt his love for her. Eddie is a old man who fixes amusment park rides. he feels his life is worthless. until he dies and finds out in heaven through meeting five different people who each had an inpact upon his life that his life was meaningful and that where he was in life was where he was supposed to be all long. it shows that even if you aren't famous, gorgeous, or rich your life is still worth something and each life is important and that the whole human race is conncected. As the Blue Man says: "Strangers are family we have yet to come to know." I mean, it's just such a beautiful movie and story and so powerful and timeless and I think it will touch viewers and readers of all ages. It's spiritual, meaningful, and gorgeous. I think probably every human being thinks that his or her life was worthless just because they weren't famous celebrities or something. But the truth is that every life is worth something, just like the old man Eddie did. He had touched so many lives and he never knew that until he died.

heavenly.......2007-05-31

interesting, thought provoking, less saccharine than I would have presumed and delightfully diverse in characterisation. It is about chance, about ho wlives are so inextricably entwined that we can have life changing events happen to other people due to our actions yet we can and do never know about them. It's a book about maturity, yes of life and death, but also about finding meaning and reason for being human at all. And if it's not to your taste it's still a nice visual few hours anyway.

Anything New?.......2007-05-21

Heaven Schmeaven. It's all the same. The story begins with the death of eighty three year old Eddie "Maintenance," when an amusement park ride goes wrong. From the start of the tale, Eddie's character is rather mysterious; the reader only learns that he is a hardworking, modest man, who dearly loves his wife, Marguerite, and thinks his job as "the ride man" at Ruby Pier is worthless. The seemingly ordinary story suddenly takes a sharp turn into a poor attempt to fantasy writing. Eddie magically flies through multiple color-changing skies- or supposedly, he is on his way to heaven. His well-guarded character then begins to reveal itself as he gains insight of his life in a journey through heaven. He learns how his actions affect and alter many other lives, just as the five people he meets affected his...

Sound familiar? First off, the whole flying ordeal is unreal. Yes, it is dealing with heaven, and heaven is considered a supernatural place where anything can happen, but come on. The events that occur in this novel are too far-fetched and unrealistic to be mere coincidences or an illustration of how our lives are connected. This leads me to another shortcoming. The underlying message of the novel is overused. Unoriginal. Trite. The lesson taught by this fable deals with the common idea that we are all connected in some way. All our actions affect others. They alter, set up, or have indirect influences upon other lives. Albom might as well transcribe the storylines of the movie "Crash" or the television show "Six Degrees," both of which revolve around the same theme, and call it The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Overall, the novel is just too predictable.

The unrealistic nature of the novel makes it seem like Albom worked too hard to make his point. For example, the first person Eddie meets in heaven is the Blue Man. The Blue Man is a man (obviously) who also worked at Ruby Pier in the freak shows for his blue skin. His relation to Eddie's life is revealed through a story about a little boy who threw a ball too far across the street. The little boy and his brother run across the street to get it. They meet an incredibly obese woman and an incredibly hairy man from the freak show. They run away, scared. Now apparently, according to Blue Man, the little boy did not see a car that was coming his way. The man behind the wheel slams on the brakes and "somehow regains control," just like that. The car rolls on, but... Oh no! The adrenaline rush from the near-tragedy makes the man feel so dizzy that his "head drops momentarily" but somehow within that moment, he collides into a parked truck. He's bleeding, he's dizzy, and then he has a heart attack. He dies. Then Albom has Blue Man end his story by calling Eddie "little boy," revealing the unpredictable and unforeseen truth that Eddie was the little boy! Wow, didn't see that coming!

First, the chain of events is very unlikely. Second, the chain of events is very unsurprising. What's expected of a novel with an overplayed underlying message? The story tries too hard to evoke emotions or "pull at the heartstrings," and to elicit the notion that we are all connected to the point that it seems unreal. The trite idea is boring, and makes the storyline way too predictable.

--H. Choi

Very well done.......2007-05-15

I read the book and the movie is very true to the script. It is a little long but worth the time.

New outlook on life........2007-05-13

One of the best books I ever read. The movie was to the tee. Great job, great story. I find myself looking at things differently now. The Blue man and the Captain were my favorite. I can relate some of my life and loved ones to parts of this story. Truely moving. RDN.

Average customer rating:

An Amazing movie
heavenly
Anything New?
Very well done
New outlook on life.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Starring: Jon Voight , Emy Aneke , Steven Grayhm , Jeff Daniels , and Tim O'Halloran
Director: Lloyd Kramer
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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