Made in Heaven

Back in the '50s, Mike (Hutton) dies saving a family from a car accident. In heaven he falls in love with Annie (McGillis), a new soul waiting to be born, and he's forced to gamble on 30 more years on earth in order to search out his lost love. Will they meet again? Unlikely; he's reincarnated as under-achieving would-be musician Elmo, she as wealthy, talented Ally, spliced to an ambitious film-maker. Offbeat and very imaginative, Rudolph's movie displays the same absolute control of atmosphere - both celestial and worldly - that made his earlier work so tantalising. The narrative drifts a little as Elmo and Ally make their separate ways through the '60s, and the ending taxes credibility. But the film looks a treat, the performances are convincing and charismatic, and the result, as they say, is a real charmer.