Defending Your Life (1991)

An L.A. advertising executive (Albert Brooks) is killed when his newly purchased car crashes into a bus. In the after life, he finds himself put on trial to justify his moving on to the next level or being sent back to Earth and reincarnated. In the meanwhile, he falls in love with a recently deceased woman (Meryl Streep) also awaiting a decision deciding her fate. Written and directed by Brooks, this inspired combination of romantic comedy and fantasy is a pure delight! Brooks' screenplay is clever and witty yet it's the romance between Brooks and Streep which gives the movie its heart. The movie is more introspective than some similarly themed films like HEAVEN CAN WAIT and GHOST and has one of the great romantic finales of all romcoms. I know Brooks has many admirers but other than this and MOTHER, his movies usually leaves me cold. With Rip Torn, Lee Grant, Buck Henry, Leonard O. Turner and in one of the film's funniest gags, Shirley MacLaine playing herself.