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Marley (Hudson) is a high-flying New Orleans advertising exec who doesn't believe that romance is necessary. Although she does have loyal friends: ditsy colleague Sarah (Punch), happy family woman Renee (DeWitt) and cheerful neighbour Peter (Malco). On the other hand, she tries to avoid to her estranged, warring parents (Bates and Williams). Then during a medical test, she has a vision of God (Goldberg), who grants her three wishes before she dies of cancer. But she certainly isn't seeking the love that grows between her and Julian (Garcia Bernal), her doctor.The film's first act plays like a standard PG-13 romantic comedy, with tame innuendo and fake sex, zany friends and colleagues, and an adorable bulldog.Then you start to notice that Hudson is looking puffy and tired: cue the medical diagnosis. From here, the serious drama takes over, lightened by moments of silly comedy and cute affection. There are also some wrenchingly realistic emotional moments along the way, which work mainly because the cast is actually very good at playing these scenes.So it's a shame that the script just skims the surface, never quite creating believable situations. Generating laughs (or even smiles) in the middle of such a sad story certainly isn't easy, but the filmmakers completely miss the chance to turn this into a black comedy, going for obvious gags and maudlin sentimentality instead.
Watching this film is almost like an out-of-body experience: we see what's happening and imagine how we might feel if these things were happening to us, and we believe the strongly emotional responses of each character, but we feel absolutely nothing for them. The love is sweet mainly because Garcia Bernal is such an unusual romantic lead, a charming nerd who wins us over just like Julian wins over Marley. But by the time the drawn-out finale finally comes, we're just glad to get out of the cinema. Its hard to believe that Kate Hudson once received an Oscar nomination. Long gone are the days of Almost Famous where Hudsons sublime turn as rock groupie Penny Lane was met with large applause, only to be followed by one dreary rom-com after another, and another, and another
That leads us to A Little Bit of Heaven. Granted this is not your average boy meets girl romance. Hudson stars as Marley Corbett, a free spirited advertising executive who treats life as one big party.That is until she is diagnosed with colon cancer. Actually, lets back up a bit. First she has a near death experience, where she finds herself in Heaven and has a conversation with God, who is portrayed by Whoppi Goldberg. To call it the most cringe worthy conversation between man and creator in the history of cinema is an understatement.So Marley is diagnosed with colon cancer and with her chances of survival slim to none, she goes about putting her affairs in order. During this time she begins a relationship with her Mexican Jewish doctor Julian Goldberg (Gael Garcia Bernal). After all, nothing says fatal illness than a burgeoning romance. Watch free movies online
That Marley is unlikeable in every which way does not help draw our sympathy. As written by Gren Wells and portrayed by Kate Hudson, the annoying care free whimsy, over the top sexual posturing and temperamental immaturity which Marley inhabits will have many rallying for the cancer to quicken its pace.Yet the torturous annoyance of this character is the least of its worries. While A Little Bit of Heaven is directed by Nicole Kasser (who directed Kevin Bacon in a career best performance in The Woodsman) and features a cast that includes Gael Garcia Bernal, Rosemary DeWitt and Peter Dinklage (the films one main grace), it falters at every turn.As a cancer drama it is insultingly sickly sweet, as a comedy its lazily written and executed, and as a romance it is void of chemistry and passion.
Perhaps worst of all is its desperate attempt to tap into the burgeoning Christian demographic, doing so with a tacky take on the afterlife and an inconsistent approach to matters of religion and spirituality. Surely a character who has met God and is facing death would delve a little deeper into matters of the afterlife?But then again that is consistent with A Little Bit of Heaven, a half measured, tonally awkward, poorly executed example of mainstream filmmaking at its worst.This turns out to be terminal, and along the way to the grave she has premonitory visions of the afterlife in which God is played by a cheerfully beaming Whoopi Goldberg. She also makes things up with her interfering mother (Kathy Bates) and her constantly distracted father (Treat Williams), which is a good thing, and slips into a distressing affair with Dr Julian Goldstein (Gael Garca Bernal), a young Jewish-Mexican doctor with a degree from Johns Hopkins, which isn't.The script mentions but does not confront the distressing, career-threatening nature of the unprofessional relationship. A Little Bit of Heaven is not a film that I would ever commend to the ill, the well or to anyone in that grey area between.
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