| | | The first true story of what happens after you die.
Features: DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, Biographies, Director's Cut, Film Highlights, Dubbed
Daniel Miller's got it all--great friends, a terrific job, and a brand-new BMW--that is, until he crashes the car into a bus as soon as he drives it off the lot. Daniel finds himself in Judgment City in the afterlife, where the newly dead have five days to defend the way they lived their lives in order to be allowed to move onward instead of going back to earth to live another one. As Daniel reviews his less-than-courageous life, he also enjoys the perks of Judgment City--the Past Lives Pavilion, all the food you can eat without any risk of weight gain--and Julia, the woman he's waited all his life to find. But if he can't prove his life wasn't governed by fear, Daniel has to go back--and Julia seems a shoo-in to move onward. This highly original, touching comedy stars Albert Brooks as Daniel Miller and Meryl Streep as Julia, with hilarious supporting performances by Rip Torn as Daniel's defender, Lee Grant as his prosecutor, and Buck Henry as a taciturn substitute lawyer.
"The best American comedy in years." Bob Mondello, National Public Radio
"Charming. It's a wonderful death." Carrie Rickey, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Editor's Note
Daniel Miller's got it all--great friends, a terrific job, and a brand-new BMW--that is, until he crashes the car into a bus as soon as he drives it off the lot. Daniel finds himself in Judgment City in the afterlife, where the newly dead have five days to defend the way they lived their lives in order to be allowed to move onward instead of going back to earth to live another one. As Daniel reviews his less-than-courageous life, he also enjoys the perks of Judgment City--the Past Lives Pavilion, all the food you can eat without any risk of weight gain--and Julia, the woman he's waited all his life to find. But if he can't prove his life wasn't governed by fear, Daniel has to go back--and Julia seems a shoo-in to move onward. This highly original, touching comedy stars Albert Brooks as Daniel Miller and Meryl Streep as Julia, with hilarious supporting performances by Rip Torn as Daniel's defender, Lee Grant as his prosecutor, and Buck Henry as a taciturn substitute lawyer.
Plot Summary
While searching for a CD in his spanking-new BMW, a hotshot advertising executive runs smack into a bus. In the afterlife--where the food is great, unlimited, and nonfattening--he falls in love with an angelic woman. Now he has to prove to the judges he has overcome the fears that have plagued him through history so that he can go to a higher plane with his newfound love.
| Features | Enhanced For 16X9 TVs | | French Subtitles | | Spanish Subtitles | | Portuguese Subtitles | | English Audio | | French Audio | | English Subtitles | | Theatrical Trailer | | Cast & Director Film Highlights | | Widescreen Version |
| Technical Info
|
Release Information
| | Studio: Warner |
| Release Date: 6/7/2005 |
| Running Time: 112 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1991 | | Catalog ID: 12049 | | UPC: 00085391204923 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
|
| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone
"...[A] brilliantly inventive comic fantasy....DEFENDING YOUR LIFE makes a solid case for Albert Brooks as an inspired filmmaker and an incomparable clown..." 04/04/1991 p.59-60Sight and Sound
"...The film is engagingly tempered with droll observation..." 08/01/1991 p.41 USA Today
"...DEFENDING YOUR LIFE is vintage Brooks..." -- 3 1/2 out of 4 stars 03/22/1991 p.4D Spirituality & Health
"Witty writing and fine performances by the ensemble cast make DEFENDING YOUR LIFE a total delight." 05/01/2005 Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
The movie is funny in a warm, fuzzy way, and it has a splendidly satisfactory ending... The best joke in Defending Your Life is that heaven is fun along the lines that would be recommended by a good MBA program. - Roger Ebert
Washington Post 9 of 10
...Brooks creates a universe of consistent amusement... It's pure delight to watch each new expression mark Brooks' face as his automatic chair whirs him from video screen to jury, then back again. This is definitely Brooks' day in court, and he makes comic heaven of it. - Desson Howe
|
| |
|
|
|
