Defending Your Life

Defending Your Life

Albert Brooks proves there's laughs after death with this almost heavenly comedy--almost heaven as in Judgment City, where recently perished Daniel Miller (Brooks) learns whether he is worthy of advancing to a higher plane of existence or will be sent back to earth for another incarnation. His fate will be determined in a very special trial, during which scenes from his life are replayed on a giant screen. "Isn't it realistic?" a judge asks. "It makes some people nauseous." While the steely prosecutor (Lee Grant) will try to prove that Daniel failed in life to face his fears and insecurities, his glad-handing, reassuring defender (Rip Torn) will argue on behalf of this hapless "little brain" (a Judgment City term for residents of earth). As Woody Allen did for the future in Sleeper, so does Brooks create an original vision of the afterlife. In Judgment City, white-robed residents can eat as much as they want without guilt or fear of gaining weight. They can also visit the Past Lives Pavilion, where they are greeted by a hologram of--who else--Shirley MacLaine. Daniel finds himself touched by an angel. Meryl Streep gives an enchanting performance as Julia, whose exemplary life is in stark contrast to his. During her trial, the court watches in rapture as she saves not only children, but a cat from a burning building. Daniel and Julia are a match made in Judgment City, but first Daniel must summon up the courage to express his true feelings for her, or she will surely advance without him. Defending Your Life is Brooks's most ambitious film and, with Mother, his most accessible. --Donald Liebenson

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Director(s): Albert Brooks
Production: Warner Home Video
  5 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.3
Rotten Tomatoes:
97%
PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Year:
1991
112
2,934 Views

Share your thoughts on Defending Your Life's quotes with the community:

0 Comments

    Quote of the Day Today's Quote | Archive

    Would you like us to send you a FREE inspiring quote delivered to your inbox daily?

    Please enter your email address:

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this movie page to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Defending Your Life Quotes." Quotes.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.quotes.net/movies/defending_your_life_quotes_2955>.

    Know another quote from Defending Your Life?

    Don't let people miss on a great quote from the "Defending Your Life" movie - add it here!

    Browse Quotes.net

    Quiz

    Are you a quotes master?

    »
    What TV show has the quote "man hands on misery to man it deepens like a coastal shelf"?
    A Greenhouse Academy
    B Prince of Peroria
    C The Inbestigators
    D A Series of Unfortunate Events