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Actors: Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep, Michael Durrell, Lee Grant, Rip Torn, Buck Henry, Shirley Maclaine
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Defending Your Life |
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The title characters are in a heaven-like place after they died on Earth. Each character is judged based upon how they dealt with fear. The protagonist falls in love and makes a choice to overcome his fear at the end.
--Thomas, Resident Scholar
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Albert Brooks wrote, directed, and starred in this thoughtful 1991 comedy about yuppie Daniel Miller, who is killed in a car crash and finds himself in Judgment City, a sparkling waiting area before the true afterlife. Basically, in order to "move on" in the process, everyone goes to court during the day to try to prove he overcame his fears and faced life with courage, otherwise he risks getting sent back to Earth to do it again (many times, if necessary). While defending his life, Daniel meets and falls in love with fellow defendant Julie (Streep), a comely lass who has much better accommodations and appears to have a better shot at getting to the next level. Nights, the temporary residents of Judgment City indulge in hedonistic pleasures, like eating as much as they like without gaining any weight. Though an intriguing concept, the film is only pleasantly diverting, not tremendously funny or thought-provoking.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Defending Your Life |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Comedy, primarily
Yes
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
Kind of comedy
- religious comedy
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- business executive
Age:
- 20's-30's
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard curly
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- caring
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- healthy but a geeky weakling
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- blonde
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn straight
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavey
Body type
- (woman) very skinny
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- long-lived adults
Profession/status:
- a lawyer creature
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 40%
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- West
- California
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- explicit references to deaths
Movie makes you feel...
- thoughtful
Any profanity?
- None
- Occasional swearing
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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