THE HEAVENLY KID. Directed by Cary Medoway; written by Cary Medoway and Martin Copeland; produced by Mort Engelberg for Orion. Starring Lewis Smith, Jason Gedrick and Richard Mulligan. Rated PG-13 (language, a few sexual references).
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"Heaven Can Wait" to see this movie, as can most of San Antonio.
The Warren Beatty movie with this title had the same theme as The Heavenly Kid. But it also had a clever, witty script and a good cast. Most of the acting and writing in the current movie are second rate. It ends up being just another silly teen movie, in spite of its metaphysical plot.
After his untimely demise in a "chicken" race in the early 1960s, Bobby (Smith) finds himself in a high-tech afterlife, needing to work off a few debits before going "uptown." His heavenly mentor is Rafferty (Mulligan), who gives him an assignment in the present. He has to be guardian angel for Lenny (Gedrick), a shy loner who looks like he could use one.
With Bobby's supernatural powers at his disposal, Lenny becomes "cool." But he also becomes a jerk so easily that it's hard to have any sympathy for him. Bobby is more likeable, even though he's also a jerk for most of the movie.
But he does eventually begin to realize that he's been stupid, and that he foolishly wasted an opportunity for the joys of a full life. This realization gives his character a poignancy that is out of keeping with the rest of the movie. The honest sadness one feels for Bobby is undercut by the movie's silly little situations, especially the contrived ending.
The Heavenly Kid has to struggle not only against the logical plot absurdities that are naturally a part of any fantasy story. But even the down-to-earth scenes present problems because they're so drearily familiar.
There have been similar scenes in so many teenage movies in the past few years! The bullies get their comeuppance in the school cafeteria. The clumsy, shy hero has trouble lighting a cigarette to impress a girl. Ho-hum.
Another kind of scene which has been overdone, and is again here, is the "musical interlude" scene. Suddenly a rock song comes up out of the blue, to accompany some action on the screen. In The Heavenly Kid this happens much too often. And the songs aren't even particularly appropriate to the action.
The Heavenly Kid is a movie which poses some interesting questions about being young and growing up, about acquiring responsibility and wasting opportunity. Its main character provokes some interest and sympathy, but his supporting cast is dull, full of characters that we don't care about.
One of the main attractions of The Heavenly Kid is the contrast it draws between the styles of the early 1960s and the 1980s.
If there wasn't another movie out right now that does the same thing, only much, much better, The Heavenly Kid wouldn't fare so badly. The better movie of course, is Back to the Future, and I recommend it highly. But The Heavenly Kid, I think, you can live without.
September 11, 1985