Defending Your Life (1991)

Stars	User	Rating
5	BeeDub	85 _63rd
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.
4	Pickpocket	7 _68th
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.
2	MartinTeller	75 _54th
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?
2	IcyBrian	80 _66th
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.
2	eggbeater	67 _61st
Imperfect, like all of Brooks's movies, but full of funny ideas and hard to dislike.
2	mattorama12	79 _87th
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.
1	Moribunny	53 _41st
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.
1	iqcumber	70 _52nd
Gentle is the word. If you like that sort of thing. I do here.
1	lachapelle	82 _67th
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.
1	sebby	75 _83rd
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.
1	tonydal	70 _40th
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. :)
1	tinysausage	58 _12th
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.
1	hellboy76	69 _73rd
Interesting concept and for the most part this movie pulls it off. Rip Torn is great.
1	HeyNiceFilm	50 _13th
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.

Average Percentile 58.42% from 549 Ratings