Hola all. Massawyrm here. Well color me flabbergasted. It’s always nice to walk into something you’re somewhat dreading and come out pleasantly surprised. And frankly, I’m kicking myself for ever doubting the awesome power that is Reese. You see for my money, Reese Witherspoon is hands-down the greatest actress of her generation. There is no working actress near her age that can even touch the talent, range and raw charisma she possesses. And before any of the dimbulbs pop up and cry bullshit, I ask you to consider four films – Man in the Moon, Freeway, Election and Legally Blonde. Now I won’t argue the quality of these films with you - personally I think the worst among them is pretty entertaining – but I would like to point out her acting in each film. Her characters. Each one has a life all it’s own and never even remotely resembles the one before it. She is one of those rare actors who can slip into characters like slipping into a new skin, a talent even rarer for working actresses as they are often chosen more for their look and age than they ever are for their talent. Reese Witherspoon is that rare exception – a woman as adorable as a Meg Ryan or a Julia Roberts, but with the talent of a Katharine Hepburn.

And it’s for all these reasons that it pains me to keep seeing her in romantic comedies, particularly abysmal, choad guzzling turtle nuggets like Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Two Hours I’ll Never Get Back. And one need only watch the trailer for Just Like Heaven to know that this is more akin to that film than it ever could be one of her really good ones. Or can you?

Watching that trailer again as I got home from the screening I noticed something. I still hate that fucking trailer – but there’s an insidious genius to it. You see, the bulk of the trailer is the first twenty minutes of the film, and as I’ll explain, turns out to be the worst part of it. But every tired moment, everything that is a rehash of something we’ve seen before is ultimately vital to what this film becomes. Because Just Like Heaven isn’t exactly what they’re selling it as. It’s better, sharper, smarter and funnier then it ever wants to let on. It is, when all is said and done, the biggest surprise I’ve had this year. And let’s face it – It’s a Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy being released at a time when there are no other female focused romantic comedies in play. They know they’re gonna put asses in seats – so it’s my guess that the trailer was a big gamble, one that could really pay off big.

Now the first twenty minutes, as I said, are pretty hard to get through at first. It is, after all, a longer version of the trailer. And it moves so quickly through all the scenes you’ve already watched - and dreaded - that I asked myself “Oh dear god. How the hell can I watch another hour and a half of this?” But then something happened. Despite the “Magical” way mark Ruffalo ended up in the apartment, despite the been-there-done-that Ghost interacting with the real world shtick, despite the plot points feeling like several other, better films, the banter actually started to work. Like an old Hepburn/Tracy picture, Witherspoon and Ruffalo just hit it off onscreen like clockwork. Their jabs are cutting and their chemistry undeniable. And once almost every frame from the trailer had been spent, the movie takes a slightly unexpected turn that changes the nature of the film entirely. And all the pieces begin to fall into place.

Every clichéd, trite, banal set piece that the movie had run through in those 20 minutes actually becomes required for it to get to where it needs to be. The gags start getting funnier, the characters begin to show depth and real sorrow and the plot becomes something that you haven’t exactly seen before. Closer to previous genre romance films like the Steve Martin/Lily Tomlin ‘All of Me’ and the Christopher Reeve classic ‘Somewhere in Time’ than it ever is to Witherspoon’s previous romantic efforts ‘Legally Blonde’ and ‘Sweet Home Alabama’, Just like Heaven belies a smart wit and a series of metaphysical laws that don’t merely serve as gags, but actually drive the story.

And again, I don’t know why I was so surprised. After all it is directed by the guy who took a Disney remake that we all swore wouldn’t work (Freaky Friday) and actually turned in something cute, then followed it up the biting, wonderful Mean Girls. Here Mark Waters doesn’t waste a single moment. Every element in this film, every character, every joke presented, builds into something better and better, until you cease simply tolerating this movie and begin actually liking it. Then as it approaches its inevitable climax, you cease simply liking this film and begin to actually really, really enjoy it as you find yourself laughing time and again while forming a real affection for the plight of Witherspoon and Ruffalo. And Waters never lets this fall into entirely into the cute category, spicing things up with hints of geek humor and moments of black comedy, ensuring that even the most cynical of viewers will find something to love and laugh at.

But most importantly, Waters uses certain elements of this film only sparingly yet uses them to full effect. Most importantly, and possibly the most threatening to this film, is his use of John Heder, star of the notoriously Love it or Loath it indie goldmine Napoleon Dynamite. Easily my biggest fear about the film, Heder turns out to be one of the funniest characters in it. Never overused, and - unlike the trailer suggests – never at all like the character from Napoleon Dynamite, Heder’s role as a local medium adds just the right amount of beautiful absurdity to a character role that almost always serves as entirely exposition. Every time he shows up, he works, then vanishes before the bit can ever get old.

What ultimately works for Just Like Heaven, however, is its ability to constantly surprise you. Every time you think you have the films next step figured out, it zips in a completely different direction and leaves you trying to catch your breath. And yet, when looking back, you realize it couldn’t have possibly worked out any other way. Just Like Heaven turns out to be exactly what it’s supposed to be rather than what romantic comedies in this day and age ever have any right to be.

Now by no means is this the best movie ever, but it is by far the best Reese Witherspoon comedy ever produced and this year’s biggest surprise. Even the hard-nosed critics that usually hate every romantic comedy that comes their way walked out with smiles on their faces after the screening. Far from simply a painless date movie, Just Like Heaven is actually one hell of a date movie. Sweet, romantic, smart and funny – you can’t ask a whole lot more from a romantic comedy.

It’s surprises like this that really make me love my job.

Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em. I know I will.

Massawyrm