Just Like Heaven

Right now you can watch Just Like Heaven in Australia on Netflix, and in the US on Hoopla — and it is funnier than its reputation suggests. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. With 2,597 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Reese Witherspoon's performance alone is worth the time investment. Put it on tonight on Netflix and see for yourself.

Just Like Heaven arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. Just Like Heaven does what great comedies rarely manage — it is actually funny, consistently, across the whole run. Shortly after David Abbott moves into his new San Francisco digs, he has an unwelcome visitor on his hands: winsome Elizabeth Masterson, who asserts that the apartment is hers -- and promptly vanishes. When she starts appearing and disappearing at will, David thinks she's a ghost, while Elizabeth is convinced she's alive. Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo lead a cast that never overplays a joke. It hit screens in 2005. Just Like Heaven earns its laughs from character rather than situation, which is why it does not wear thin the way pure farce tends to. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Just Like Heaven is the kind of thing you put on in the background and end up fully watching. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. It is a manageable watch, easy to fit into a single evening. Reese Witherspoon is funny in a way that holds up on rewatch. Put it on when you need something guaranteed to land.