Delayed Reaction: Defending Your Life

Premise: After he dies, a man has a trial of sorts to determine if he can go to heaven or has to live another life on Earth.

 

I've seen a lot of depictions of the afterlife, and this one is probably my favorite. Part of that is a cheat. This movie only really covers phase 1 of its version of the afterlife. It stops before it has to explain the heaven equivalent. That said, as someone who loves going to Disney World far too much, a tram right to paradise sounds like a great start. It also manages to thread an important needle for me when thinking about "what's next". Since I don't actually believe in anything happening after death, I don't like being told that life is only a test. It suggests that trying to live a good life now has no meaning in the moment. But this film suggests that the way to be worthy of its heaven is to embrace life in a meaningful way. It's a clever calibration that I can tell Albert Brooks worked on to get right.

 

'Calibrated' really is the word that comes to mind as I think about this movie. It does a tremendous job of explaining only as much as it needs to. I understand the general concept of "defending your life". I get that the number of days is a sign of how difficult it will be. I understand that they are rating how much you let fear run your life. I don't know the exact technicalities, but I believe that everyone participating in them does. It's a lot like the feeling of starting a new job or going to college. I trust that the people in charge know what they are doing enough until I can understand it myself. There's a lot about this movie that still makes no sense to me, although I believe they make sense in the world of the movie, (even if Albert Brooks - who wrote and directed this as well - may not even know). Like, do they ever address why Meryl Streep thinks she knows Albert Brooks? If they do, I missed it, and I like not knowing better anyway.

 

As a comedy, this works more on a level of clever wordplay than gags and howlers. Often, Brooks talking to Streep plays like a guy who can't believe his dumb jokes are working. It's a lot of jokes that are funnier to describe to someone later than when they really happen in the movie. That said, I laughed out loud plenty at the series of misjudgments section. There needs to be more room in this world for 5-10 second comedy premises.

 

I'm a little torn about Meryl Streep in this movie. Not about if she's great. I think she's really wonderful in a more subordinate role. These days, she's either a lead or a big character in a supporting role (and sometimes both). It probably would've been a waste to give her more roles like Defending Your Life as opposed to the meatier stuff she did get, but she is undeniably lovely in this. Albert Brooks has the Woody Allen problem of not being able to disappear into a role very well. Especially when he wrote and directed this. His voice is all over it, so the most I can say is that Albert Brooks is a really good Albert Brooks in this.

 

I really can't point to any complaints about this movie. I'm curious to see how it ages with me. I could see it turning into one of my favorite movies or I could see it being one of those movies I really liked that I never get around to revisiting.

 

Verdict: Strongly Recommend