Scripture As Film
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If you've read Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom, then you know the author's got a way with wrenching your emotions. I've never teared up as much as when I'd read that book; the story of a student and his old teacher who was dying of a horribly debilitating disease. But it also had a fairly high schmaltz factor. THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN also has that sappiness running through it, but with a serious religious bent to boot (not surprising considering the title).
The story is that of Eddie (Jon Voight, National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets) and his life as a repairman at an entertainment park. Many things have happened at this unique place. It's where Eddie's father worked day in and day out all of his life. It's where Eddie fell in love with his future wife Marguerite (Dagmar Dominczyk, 24 TV series). It's the place where Eddie would leave in order to fight and become injured in WW II. And it's where Eddie would eventually die while trying to save the life of a child.
The story takes place immediately after Eddie's death, and we get to see five flashbacks via five people that Eddie thought he never knew. The first is Blue Man (Jeff Daniels, The Lookout) who was a sideshow freak at the carnival. Little did Eddie know he'd touched Blue Man in a very special way, but also may have been partially responsible for his death.
The second is Captain (Michael Imperioli, Shark Tale) who was his commanding officer during WW II. Both having been captured and tortured during the war, they also broke themselves free and torched their prison before departing. It was also during this time that Eddie was wounded in the knee, making him unable to walk normally for the rest of his life. But who shot him? And were there any people in those prison huts they burned down?
The third person is Eddie's own Marguerite. Having not seen his wife since her death many years before, Eddie comes to understand just how much he loved her ...but also how much he'd held back due to his own past during the war.
The fourth is someone he'd never met in life but had worked for during most of his time on Earth, Ruby (Ellen Burstyn, The Fountain), for whom the park was named where Eddie worked. The destruction and rebuilding of Ruby's Pier (the name of the entertainment park) is an analogy for the same thing Eddie must do in order to salvage himself from the destructive behavior toward his abusive father.
The fifth and final person is someone, again, Eddie had never met but who's life he touched in a very significant way. Telling you who and how this happened would be a huge spoiler, so I'll just say that, in true scripture fashion, Eddie is able to "wash away" his sins and become someone worthy of heavenly entry.
The biggest challenge for some viewers will be trying to separate the acting/scenes with the religious themes being rammed down their throats. But if you're able to separate them, you might enjoy it on some levels. Although morally it's a tale of one man's eventual redemption in the afterlife, it also has some pretty good acting and interesting sets for a made-for-TV Hallmark presentation.
A message to those who are "true believers": please try not to thump your bibles too loudly.
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