Rich Man’s One Fine Day – as far as rom-coms go, this one actually has characters with some sort of personality.
★★★★☆
The rom-com is a vexing genre of movie. On one hand, its comedic movies about people who fall in love, and that sounds like a really good time. On the other hand, it is subject to mediocre cookie-cutter filmmaking driven by good old-fashioned American greed. One one hand, some of my favorite movies of all time qualify as romantic comedies. Annie Hall and 500 Days of Summer are masterful achievements in my eyes that I can watch again and again and again. On the other hand, if I have to watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days ever again, it will have to be A Clockwork Orange style. Because of this dichotomy, after David assigned me Defending Your Life, I approached it with great hesitation. My advice to you?
Go. In.
Defending Your Life is a 1991 rom-com written by, directed, and starring Albert Brooks (the bad guy from The Simpsons or the bad guy from Drive). Meryl Streep plays the female lead. In the first couple minutes of the film, Albert Brooks’ character, Dan Miller, finds himself, well… dead. He suddenly finds himself in Judgement City, a more corporate version of the Pearly Gates, where he will be judged on his life to decide his fate over the course of 3? days. In Judgement City, he meets Meryl Streep. Free from corporeal concerns, the two very quickly begin falling in love. But, Brooks quickly realizes that Streep is having a much better trial than he is, and odds are they won’t end up going the same direction (not heaven or hell, forget about that for now). With only a few days together, they have to decide how far they can really take their budding relationship.
What makes this movie different from the countless others of its ilk is its backdrop. Set in the afterlife of Judgement City, we’re constantly being faced with these really tough questions about fear, love, and, for lack of a less nausea-inducing term, “the human condition”. In Judgement City, Brooks , Streep, and all of the other visitors must sit in front of a committee who decides whether or not they’ve overcome their fear. To do this, they analyze between 4-12 days from the person’s life (these play out as short vignettes in the movie, and help to break up the otherworldly-ness). The theory this movie presents about our role in the universe is so optimistic that it’s hard not to get swept up by it, imagining yourself as a visitor to Judgement City. Would I stay in the basic Hilton Hotel that Brooks finds himself in, or the swanky joint that Streep gets assigned to? What days from my life would be shown at my trial?
I really can’t recommend this movie enough. Albert Brooks is so funny in his own subtle way. Brooks plays an amazing everyman. You really feel like you could be him, or at the very least know him as that funny guy from work. He bounces perfectly between playing the comic and the straight man. Like Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally, he is not the hunky guy with the cool job that just can’t seem to find the right woman. He is a middle-aged divorcee stuck in a job he doesn’t particularly love. Meryl Streep is (and I have a strong personal bias) as enchanting as always. She’s beautiful, she’s funny, and she actually has a real personality! One of my favorite bits from the movie is how much Streep enjoys the fact that she can eat as much as she wants and never gain any weight. She reacts like we all would, by stuffing her face. They are the perfect rom-com couple – you yearn for them to get together as soon as the meet-cute happens. This is the kind of movie that grabs on to your heart and never lets go.
Unfortunately, this movie isn’t freely streaming, but it’s available to rent at all the usual places and it’s totally worth the price.
Next week, David will be reviewing Better Off Dead, a weird 80s comedy starring John Cusack that was introduced to me by my mother (Hi Mom!). This movie is both timeless and yet somehow so 80s at the exact same time. I mean, John Cusack literally has to beat a bully in a ski competition. I think this movie is great, cliches be damned! And I really, really want David to understand me when I say “I want my two dollars!”
cinemateur 
