Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Heart and Souls Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 17, 2019

WARNING: A few unavoidable spoilers follow, but nothing the trailer doesn't give away.

Produced after the rousing success of City Slickers two years earlier, Ron Underwood's Heart and Souls (1993) attempts to combine fantasy, comedy, and human drama through a story about the afterlife and its profound effect on five unique people. Four of them are, for lack of a better term, stuck in limbo: single mom Penny (Alfre Woodard), socially anxious singer Harrison (Charles Grodin), thief Milo (Tom Sizemore), and waitress Julia (Kyra Sedgwick) died in the same bus crash and were spiritually fused with the soul of newborn Thomas Reilly, who was simulaneously born in a car near the accident site. As Thomas (played by Eric Lloyd as a child) grows up, Penny, Harrison, Milo, and Julia embody the roles of guardian angels -- or imaginary friends, to everyone else including his parents -- but soon have to break contact for his own sake. Not surprisingly, Thomas is left with a lot of unanswered questions, emotional abandonment, and a presumably high therapy bill in the coming years.

Fast-forward almost three decades, and full-grown Thomas (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a successful but troubled businessman. His guardian angels, now more silent observers, are informed by spectral bus driver Hal (David Paymer) that, due to a heavenly mix-up, they've been left between worlds to resolve unfinished business. After reappearing to contact Thomas directly, they must right a few wrongs to finish their time on Earth and are even permitted to take over Thomas' body to get the job done. Not surprisingly, he's unwilling to help at first but, at the risk of being pestered for the rest of his own life, Thomas eventually gives in to their wishes. From there, it's a race against time as each of the four must figure out their life's remaining purpose before the bus returns to pick up another wandering spirit.

Heart and Souls asks a lot of its audience but offers a few olive branches in return. The most obvious and immediate highlight is Robert Downey, Jr.'s lead performance, which carries most of the weight and allows the actor to show off a terrific amount of range. Whether belting out "The Star Spangled Banner", writhing around on a conference room table, or attempting to win back his girlfriend Anne (Elisabeth Shue), Downey, Jr. is perfectly cast here and commits to every facet of a great central character (It's also the first time he pretends to be black, a full fifteen years before Tropic Thunder.) The film's scope is also ambitious: it admirably crams in a lot of exposition in relatively short order, providing obvious but appreciated cues that our quartet of strangers -- not to mention Thomas' parents, rushing to the hospital -- will be sticking around for the long haul, which allows the initial bus crash and its fallout to pull the rug out from under us. It's a pretty great premise, all things considered.

But as that three-star rating indicates, Heart and Souls doesn't always fire on all cylinders. The film's emotional tone is all over the place at times, with clear signs of trouble during the guardian angels' initial departure from Thomas' life. It's a heart-wrenching scene and, though obviously not played for laughs, feels especially out of place and could have been handled much more carefully. (Luckily it doesn't last long, but adult Thomas is, for whatever reason, initially presented as more of an unsympathetic character instead of the victim.) Things pick up during the "unfinished business" leg of our journey, allowing each supporting character their own time in the spotlight -- one, quite literally -- that only work to varying degrees of success. That initial setup mentioned earlier isn't strong enough to warrant the dramatic conclusions that follow; some, like Milo and Julia, barely even register and thus end up falling flat. Perhaps the only moving resolution here is that of single mom Penny, which offers a perfect balance of pathos, emotional relief, and even a few well-earned laughs. Running a close second is Harrison's big singing break at a B.B. King concert, but it's mostly played for comedy and Downey, Jr. does all the heavy lifting.

If Heart and Souls had the good sense to shed a few extra supporting characters or hadn't established so many rules to wriggle around, it would've felt like a more complete, streamlined, and affecting experience. But while far from a perfect comedy or drama, it has more than a few great moments and, at the very least, contains an outstanding lead performance that fans of Robert Downey, Jr. should enjoy.

Either way, it's certainly taken its time to reach high definition: the film's last domestic home video release was more than two decades ago on DVD, a long out-of-print disc that commanded high prices from third-party sellers. Universal's new Blu- ray edition is a pressed disc similar to those from Warner Archives: it features solid technical specs, an extremely high bit rate, and absolutely no new bonus features. (There's not even a menu...but under the circumstances, it's not really needed. ) Not exactly a recommended blind buy for new fans, but those who saw and enjoyed Heart and Souls growing up should enjoy themselves well enough.

Heart and Souls Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Present in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio, Heart and Souls earns a solid Blu-ray debut on this movie-only disc. Considering the film's last domestic home video release was on DVD more than 20 years ago (albeit an anamorphic one, which were quite rare back in 1998), this 1080p transfer obviously marks a fairly substantial upgrade from top to bottom. It's worth noting that Heart and Souls has a few unlikely visual elements working against it; for example, all four supporting characters are stuck in the same outfits from start to finish and, considering its fantasy elements, the color palette rarely veers into exciting territory.

But while there aren't many "wow" shots here, Universal's Blu-ray offers a clean, stable, and consistently healthy presentation that looks right in line with other mainstream movies from this era. There's very little dirt and debris, grain levels are consistently good with no apparent signs of excessive noise reduction, and the film maintains a surprisingly high bit rate that usually stays well above the 30 Mbps mark. My only complaint is that black levels tend to waver in extremely dark shots, with a few succumbing to mild noise and crush. Even so, the good far outweighs the bad and long- time fans of Heart and Souls will be glad to finally have a solid upgrade on Blu-ray.

Heart and Souls Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Equally impressive (if not more so) is the default DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio mix, which gives priority to Marc Shaiman's score and features crisp, well-defined dialogue. Although this is primarily a front-loaded affair, surrounds are used effectively during the film's occasionally action scenes and especially a live musical performance featuring Robert Downey, Jr.'s character -- embodied by Charles Grodin's character, mind you -- belting out "The Star Spangled Banner" with supporting guitar licks by B.B. King himself (above). It's a memorable scene and the sound stage opens up nicely here, giving the performance an added boost with effective rear-channel support. So to does the arrival and departure of the green bus that shows up to usher our supporting characters to a more permanent afterlife. Still, the majority of Heart and Souls plays it straight, but that's not a bad thing: like its video presentation, Universal's Blu-ray offers a serviceable audio mix that, at the very least, gets the job done.

Optional subtitles, accessible via the subtitle button or pop-up menu button on your remote, are available in English SDH and placed within the image frame.

Heart and Souls Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No extras here, not even a trailer. Was Tom Sizemore really that busy?

...

Oh.

Heart and Souls Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ron Underwood's Heart and Souls isn't a particularly gut-busting comedy, nor do most of its big dramatic moments feel entirely earned. Many of the key supporting actors also play exactly to their established character types, which makes certain elements more than a little predictable. Yet the film still has at least one trick up its sleeve that manages to keep things afloat: Robert Downey, Jr. almost carries the entire film with a great performance, making it all the more disappointing that he doesn't show up until almost the 30-minute mark. While certainly not a total loss, Heart and Souls rarely digs much deeper than the surface: it wastes a decent premise but, at the same time, is worth watching at least once. This obviously doesn't make Universal's Blu-ray a recommended blind buy (especially given the total lack of extras), but established fans will at least appreciate its belated debut in high definition.