A Los Angeles Rams quarterback, accidentally taken to Heaven before his time by an overzealous angel, returns to life in the body of a millionaire, who is himself the target of a murder plot.
[The film] has everything going for it: big laughs, populist politics, billowy sequences set in heaven, a murder plot, a climactic Super Bowl game, a supporting cast of choice comic actors, and best of all, a touching (but PG) romance.
Supremely produced, this whimsical romantic comedy served as star vehicle for Julie Christie and especially Warren Beatty, who made an impressive co-directing debut with Buck Henry; the film deservedly won the Oscar for Art Direction.
It's certainly likable enough and was a big hit when it came out, but one could hardly call it an auspicious artistic debut -- a crafty commercial entertainment with a certain amount of intelligence is more like it.
