When Albert Brooks meets an end,
It's his life he'll have to defend.
Get help from Rip Torn,
Or be re-born,
Three decades before "Soul" was on trend.

Man, EVERYBODY rips this movie off. I like The Good Place but damn does it rip this off. Miracle Workers? Haven't seen it but you KNOW it rips this off. Motherfucking Boss Baby rips this off. College freshmen who say "I don't necessarily think of God as a man with a big white beard?" Say it with me: Rips! This! Off!

Man I would lose my trial soooo hard.

I think it would be easy to defend my life, I'm a pretty good guy

nothing gives me more anxiety than the thought of my fate being decided based on how much i anxiety i had when i die!!

My favourite depiction of the afterlife, as a rather drab bureaucratic place of sensual delight mingled with baffling lack of pertinent detail. It's a secular person's dream! Brooks and Streep are at their best; their romance is unfussy, cleverly played, and deeply affecting. With every year that passes, Brooks' work looks better and better.

simple conclusions drawn from this:

1. in this life i’m using at most 1.5% of my brain 
2. meryl streep has never been more endearing and charming than in this... and that IS including mamma mia 
3. it is enough to be a charming and smart comedy with a touch of romance that is neither grand nor overstated... just lovely and warm
4. one day of my life for which i surely would be judged was in 1st grade when i thought i saw my older friend mariah from behind and walked up to hug her, only to realize it was not, in fact, mariah, but another 3rd grader who was thoroughly confused by me hugging her... not only did i hug her, i hugged her AGAIN realizing my mistake and said something like “have another!” before running away to cry :)
5. i’ve already recommended this to three people so consider this me recommending it to you now

albert brooks needs to calm down and let meryl streep enjoy her big plate of pasta with an endless noodle & thank the kind waiter for bringing him two giant boxes of pies

life after death is a crazy and wild subject to talk about and I think this was executed in the most heartwarming and sweetest way. 
I’m terrified of death and it gives me anxiety just talking about it, but I hope when I die I don’t have to re-see all the bad things I did in my past in front of people I hardly know. 

also I seriously can’t stress this enough. meryl streep is LITERALLY the most beautiful woman on this entire planet.

That was such a nice movie! Very funny, I like Albert Brooks as a leading man a lot and Meryl Streep is a great love interest. The colors really pop, it’s a nice love story and the courtroom-style scenes are entertaining. It’s good to watch movies that just make you feel good. 

*I watched this because I was interested in Brooks work as a director and I’ve heard lots about his filmography being more mean-spirited and dry but this was generally an easy watch and very sweet... is this an outlier or am I completely misjudging this? I don’t know! I’m done now!

The relationship between Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep’s characters felt slightly underdeveloped, which is unfortunate because I felt the ending would have had a stronger punch to it if they were more developed. But other than that I really enjoyed it.

When Albert Brooks meets an end,
It's his life he'll have to defend.
Get help from Rip Torn,
Or be re-born,
Three decades before "Soul" was on trend.

Proof that Meryl Streep is worth dyin-.... I mean “moving on” for.

I wouldn't have guessed that Albert Brooks was such a talented director and actor. I also didn't know I could love Meryl Streep so much. I loved this quite a bit.

A lot of people who have been important in my life have told me that this movie is one of their favorites. I finally got a chance to watch it. I enjoyed the concept of the film. My only major complaint is that while I enjoyed the message, it is quite the saccharine movie, which isn't really my thing. Definitely good overall and I can see why people like it.

I tried, I really did, but Brooks' persona and the relentless USA of it all wore me down and I had to quit not long after Meryl showed up. Which is a shame.

Defending Your Life. I Really Love This Movie

Rewatched 20+ years after first viewing. I didn’t remember how much Albert Brooks looks like a thumb with Brillo pad hair-Meryl Streep is luminous and lovely - the story of defending your life holds up!

Really warming up to this Albert Brooks fella!

Great writing and an inventive plot. And Streep is delightful.