Heart and Souls (1993)

Summary

A corporate lawyer is tormented by four souls who want to resolve their lives before moving on.

Director

Ron Underwood

Downey Factor

Medium-high. Five main characters, no main star.

Character

Thomas Reilly, a lawyer trying to balance his job, his needy girlfriend and the four ghosts holding him hostage.

Looks

Pretty good. Mostly wears a three-piece suit.

Performance

There is a bit of drama, but the comedic aspect of his performance makes this movie, especially when he is taken over by the souls.

Line

They're back. The hallucinations are back.

Sings

Walk Like a Man, The Star Spangled Banner.

Love & Sex

Elisabeth Shue is his pouty, neglected girlfriend.

Dies, Gay or Villain

No, no, briefly.

Cast

Elisabeth Shue, Alfre Woodard, Tom Sizemore, Kyra Sedgwick, Charles Grodin

Connection

Elisabeth Shue in Soapdish.

Tom Sizemore in Natural Born Killers.

Alfre Woodard in The Singing Detective and Captain America: Civil War.

RDJ Says

Ron Underwood really attracted me to Heart and Souls. It's a character-driven film about sacrifice—the sacrifices people make for one another, and the sacrifice you have to make to find any semblance of bliss. And then there's Thomas whose head is spinning from the realization that these souls are real, and he's going to have to bend a little to make room for them ... Real fine, San Francisco, lots of money. Probably one of the best times in my life. Good movie ... It's a fun movie, in which I only have to wear one costume. Even my hair stays the same in the whole movie, and the only thing I had to do was act. So that was a piece of cake.

Time & Place

1950s and 1990s San Francisco

Availability

Released in theaters 13 August 1993. On DVD in Region 1, 2 and 4.

Foreign Titles

Argentina: El Amor es Eterno (Love is Eternal)
Brazil: Morrendo e Aprendendo (Dying and Learning)
France: Drôles de fantômes (Funny Ghosts)
Germany: Vier Himmlische Freunde (Four Heavenly Friends)
Israel: One More Chance for Life (English translation)
Italy: Quattro Fantasmi Per Un Sogno (Four Ghosts for a Dream)
Japan: When Love is Smiling (English translation)
Poland: Serce i Dusze (Heart and Souls)
Spain: Corazones y Almas (Heart and Souls)

Rotten Tomatoes

55% Fresh | 22 Reviews

Critical View

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Downey shows an explosive talent for physical comedy, most memorably at a business meeting when a feminine spirit moves him and at a B.B. King concert when a shy Grodin uses him to sing the national anthem. The scene is a show stopper, highlighting a potently acted, buoyantly funny film that trades on emotion without making you gag on it.

Ty Burr, Entertainment Weekly: You'd think Robert Downey Jr. would have wanted to steer clear of life-after-death comedies after the embarrassment of 1989's Chances Are. But, no, he has gone ahead and plunged into Heart and Souls, another "feel-good" Heaven Can Wait clone. The difference is that this time he gets it right ... You may hate yourself for liking Heart and Souls, but at least you can take comfort in the fact that you've been had by professionals.

Rita Kempley, The Washington Post: His impressions of Grodin and Sizemore are apt, but when it comes to doing the ladies, he'd have been better off if he'd donned a coconut bra and sung "There is Nothing Like a Dame."

Does It Hold Up

This is the kind of story you'll probably never see in a movie again, but there are and will continue to be streaming series that play in a similar space. But aside from the slight head trip of watching a young RDJ play a character who was born 5+ years before he was, there's nothing too weird or out there about this accessible PG-13 romantic comedy.

2 Reasons to See It

1. All scenes where he is 'possessed' by the souls.
2. Singing. Physical comedy. Romance. What more do you want?

Overall

Worth seeing for his comedic performance and good looks.

If You Like It

You might also like Only You (1994), Chances Are (1989)

Photos

Video