DEFENDING YOUR LIFE
[Spoilers]
A film review by Steve Tenney
Copyright 1991 Steve Tenney
I just saw DEFENDING YOUR LIFE yesterday. It stars Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep. It's one of the best movies I've seen in a long while. It's the kind of movie which *should* cause people (at least anyone who is at least half way conscious) to reflect on their own current life situation (but in a kinder, humorous fashion).
Basically Albert Brooks plays a divorced yuppie who is about to celebrate his birthday alone, driving his brand new BMW. He dies in that BMW and is sent to a "Holding Place" (I am reluctant to use the Roman-Catholic term of purgatory--because of the negative connotations), called Judgement City. The purpose of this city is to review each new arrival's life, or at least some pivotal episodes of such, to determine if they are ready to advance to the next level of the universe, or to be sent back down to earth to try it again.
"This is not a trial," one of the judges at Brooks' review explains; instead, it is just a process to help them come to a fair decision on his fate (so what's the difference?).
Rip Torn does an excellent job as Brooks' defense attorney and Lee Grant is just as able as the stern prosecutor. Judgement City has been made to look very familiar and earth-like to the judges so that they can feel as comfortable and at-home as possible (it also saves the production company a fortune in costly set designs and special effects).
Brooks did a magnificent job in writing and directing and there's plenty of gags to keep the audience laughing, (i.e., the weather station in Brooks' motel room which states "74 degrees, perfectly clear All the Time". The dialogue is also very well written.
In a nut shell, Brooks' review is not going well. It seems that the basic criteria in life to be judged by, is whether he was courageous enough, if he had enough gumption to stick up for himself and others in various situations. Naturally Lee Grant repeatedly brings up many episodes which clearly demonstrate how lacking Brooks is in the "gutsy" category. Rip Torn remains upbeat and almost jovial even in the face of what seems to be a meager task; the few episodes he is able to scrape up in Brook's defense are very pitiful.
Brooks meets and falls in love with Meryl Streep, who's life review is going just grandly, and seems to be a cinch for the next level. Brooks does a great job in bringing out the humor by contrasting Meryl's situation with his own (She gets to stay in a much classier hotel, with a Jacuzzi and French pastries, they only need to review four episodes from her life, compared to nine from his).
I really loved this movie and the concept of the afterlife (though it's not really original). If indeed we are judged in this manner after we die, I'm sure it wouldn't be so simple or straightforward, and courage wouldn't be the only criteria. I'm sure kindness would have to fall in there somewhere. But one can only speculate-------
Steve Tenney Hewlett-Packard Corvallis, ORE 10e@hpcvia.CV.HP.COM
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