DEFENDING YOUR LIFE (1991) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1998 Ted Prigge
Writer/Director: Albert Brooks Starring: Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep, Rip Torn, Lee Grant, Buck Henry, Leonard O. Turner, Ethan Embry, Susan Walters, Shirley MacLaine
Probably the reason Albert Brooks is a cult favorite rather than a big box office draw is because he's like a much less cinematic version of Woody Allen: he makes films that look and sometimes feel like big budget comedies like "Father of the Bride" and "Mrs. Doubtfire," but contain so much intelligence and wit, and deal with some broad and narrow human hang-ups (mostly his own, but we can all relate). The thing is if a normal moviegoer (i.e. not me) went to see one of his films, they'd probably laugh their goddam asses off because his films are hilariously clever, all while never shooting over the audiences' heads. The philosophical ideas are general ones, and can easily be dissected from the surface.
"Defending Your Life" is one of the funniest and most clever comedies that I've seen released this decade. On the surface, it's just a really witty, and hilarious film about what happens when you die. But underneath is a film that's about the way we judge everything we do, about the way we punish ourselves for missing opportunities, and how we often forget to merely be human. The film was written, directed, and co-produced by Brooks, one of the funniest men alive, who also stars in the film as Daniel Miller, a reasonably happy man with a lot of neurotic hang-ups, and who one day hits a bus head-on while driving home in his new BMW (while listening to Barbra Streisand do "Something's Coming" from "West Side Story," no less).
Instead of going straight to heaven, Brooks takes his character to a sorta limbo world called Judgment City, where everyone who dies in America (from the West Coast, of course) has to go to be calmed down from their "trip," and then be forced to "defend their lives." Right away, this film is hysterically witty: Judgment City looks like a normal American city/vacation spot, complete with tall buildings, numerous hotels, nightclubs, comedy spots, restaurants, and even golf courses (miniature and real). It even has billboards, and one woman who works in the city who tells Daniel that if he has any suggestions on how the city can look more like a city on Earth, there's a suggestion box at every corner.
As far as "defending his life," Daniel is given a lawyer, Bob Diamond (Rip Torn - PERFECT casting), as well as a prosecutor, Lena Foster (Lee Grant, another bit of perfect casting), who has a bit of anger aimed at Bob right away (Daniel tries to get a mistrial because of this). Daniel discovers that he will have four days of trials in a tiny courtroom with only himself, the two lawyers, and two judges presiding, where he will watch movie versions of certain episodes of his life that show him as being a wimp or being strong.
Meanwhile, Daniel meets a woman his age, Julia (Meryl Streep), who has also recently died in a stupid accident, and the two immeadiately hit it off, and find that they are entrapped in an earthlike romance. Both have varying degrees of unhappiness, and they soon find that they may be parted: those who win their trials can go onto the "next part of existence;" those who lose go back to Earth as someone else...and it looks like Julia will be winning and Daniel will be pathetically losing.
One of Albert Brooks specialities is effortlessly blending hysterical bits of comedy with warmer more sentimental parts, all without ever becoming sappy or cheap. Here, he blows us away with his many pokes at ideas of afterlife, like how when you die, you can eat whatever you like and how much you like, all without ever gaining any weight...and it's the best food you'll ever eat. And then he gives us a romance which is quirky AND heartwarming, all because he and Streep have such great chemistry together. Brooks makes the cynical jokes while Streep laughs at them, all the while being subtlely attracted to one another. It's not often that you see a comedy that can give us a romance that is not only interesting and moving, but is also intelligent.
Everything that goes into this film is a part of Brooks and his certain hang-ups, and his films are comic zeniths of imagining ways of overcoming his fears and anxieties. Here, he attacks the way that many of us are too judgemental and hard on ourselves. He shows Daniel as having two lawyers, one who is making excuses for him and trying to show that some lackluster moments were actually good for him; the other who is constantly criticizing everything he does, and never really being able to let go of them. The fact is that Brooks is probably still plagued with these problems, as we all are, but this film is a way of being able to at least understand them, and maybe slightly overcoming them.
Still, if you're not blown away by the way he adds numerous amounts of depth to his film, you'll at least be bowled over by his great sense of humor, which finds laughter in basically everything, all while possessing a good amount of intelligence. His creation of Judgment City is inspired, to say the least. After all, wouldn't God or whatever created us try and make those who die more comfortable to the massive change of lifestyle? And don't you all fear having to explain a very embarassing moment (or moments) in your life to someone who has control over where you go after death? And don't you think that after all your failed relationships that the one time you meet that someone who you want to spend your entire lifetime with is after you die? Isn't that just like life?
MY RATING (out of 4): ****
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