Chances Are is a daft but nevertheless very enjoyable romantic comedy which starts with Louie Jeffries and Corrine getting married, with Louie's best friend confiding in him that he is also in love with Corrine. For some reason that's not even remotely a problem for either of them - now that’s true friendship. At any rate, Louie and Corrine seem to have the perfect relationship, and with their first anniversary about to be celebrated and the news of their first child just out, everything is perfect. However an accident results in Louie's death and Corrine's world comes crushing down.

Now normally revealing that a main character dies in a movie would be a major spoiler and not necessarily the sort of thing that you would never really expect to happen in a romantic comedy, but Chances Are isn't a normal romantic comedy. When Louie pops off up to the pearly gates, which interestingly enough is portrayed in this film as an administrative nightmare more than anything else, he demands that he be sent back to earth. Of course he can only do so if he becomes a newborn, but he is so determined that he doesn't think twice about this. In fact, he's in such a hurry that they don't manage to give him an injection to flush out his memory…

Thus, when young Alex is setting out in the world having graduated 18 years later, he finds himself in an extremely awkward situation when he finds himself dating his own daughter (Miranda) and still in love with his wife, who of course thinks he's a head case. Tied in with all this is Philip, his best friend, being almost a father to Miranda but having still not having attempted to woo Corrine - she is still in love with her husband despite the passing years. (For this she is seeing a Psychiatrist which results in some amusing scenes.) On top of all this there's another issue from his old life that needs to be dealt with, but will Alex remember in time - and in fact can he cope with what's happening to him at all once he discovers that he is actually Louie?

It's all very weird and slightly wacky, but it's played quite straight with only a mild sense of the surreal. It's a kind of "what if?" scenario that takes itself seriously enough to work, not seriously enough to be stupid, and not stupid enough to be ridiculous. The plot is actually woven together very nicely, with all the lose ends being tied up nicely at the end, just when you thought they'd forgotten about something it pops up. There are plenty of laughs along the way, a far bit of visual humour but mostly situational with some smart dialogue. The subject matter is rather tricky but dealt with in an effective way to provoke both an emotional response and a lot of laughter.

The strong cast give some great performances here too. Cybill Sheppard shows a lot of class as Corrine, exhibiting an emotional depth to her character as well as some good comic timing. Robert Downey Jr. plays Alex, and his youthful energy and physical humour suit the role perfectly. His girlfriend / daughter is played by a young Mary Stuart Masterson (25 but looking 17), surely one of the finest actresses of recent time. Rounding off the cast is Ryan O'Neil, not as young as he once was but exuding the same quiet charisma as always.

The only thing that really seemed wring in the film was the fact that Corrine, Philip, and Miranda all accepted some very weird behaviour from Philip rather too easily. This was partly explained by an indication that part of them knew that really this was Louie, but somehow that didn't seem to quite work out with some of the things. For instance, when he first visited the house and no-one (not even he) knew about his true identity, he knew exactly where the silverware was - would that not have sparked the thought "thief!" in somebody's heads? Also as he was coming to realise who he really was, he checked cupboards and knew exactly what was in them - really, even given Corrine's obsession with her dead husband, would nothing have changed location in the house?!?

That said though this was a really enjoyable movie, and one that I would recommend to anyone who likes romantic comedies or films that are a little different from the norm. I would think that given the cast members, there would be many people who will enjoy it based solely on the strength of who's in it as well. Not quite 5 stars, but a film that can be watched and re-watched with enjoyment each time.

Other Information

Director: Emile Ardolino (Dirty Dancing, Sister Act)
Year of Release: 1989
Runtime: 108 minutes
Rating: PG (UK & USA)





Related Links

Top Ten Romantic Comedies


Another nice romantic comedy starring Robert Downey Jr: Only You


Recommended: Yes