The Heavenly Kid (1985)

This is an 80's comedy that was released exactly the same time Back To The Future was released in the summer of 1985. Back to the Future was enormously more successful than Heavenly Kid not for conceptual reasons, but Back to the Future had better supporting cast, better lead characters and was gifted with a better screenplay. In fact you can ask anyone over 40 today about Back to the Future and 9/10 would remember the popularity of Back to the Future while I am certain that 1/10 of them would recall The Heavenly Kid. It was basically a Box Office bomb.Although Heavenly Kid suffers from corny and cheesy clichés whilst having an inferior cast of actors I cannot help but have a strong sentiment attached to it. It has a very sweet and altruistic message of love and sacrifice while earning salvation through the main character. The theme here is actually more deep and profound than Back to the Future, so I think it's inferior popularity begs the question as to why this is so. Heavenly Kid suffers from a lack elementary directing skills, a satisfying script and perhaps some realistic twists. Technical merit and acting is not top notch here and these few deficiencies contribute to its inferiority compared to its better contemporary. It is important for every serious movie reviewer to analyze movies with similar themes in order to decode what went wrong for the poorer of the two. The story begins in the early 1960's where a group of youths are meeting near a cliff to watch two adversaries duel in a game of chicken to settle their differences. As we think our hero, Bobby, has won the match he gets his jacket sleeve caught in the gear shifter - (In typical fashion reminiscent of Rebel without a Cause. His car plunges down a cliff where it explodes into his demise. The following scenes are set in a Limbo-esque environment where he is unsure where he is. He meets with Rafferty, perfectly played by Richard Mulligan. Rafferty is sort of his Liaison who will guide him from Limbo to heaven. This is sort of a meet-cute where we have an experienced and crusty old man teaching the young and rebellious kid about how to earn his wings and seek redemption. Richard Mulligan has never been better and he is perfectly comfortable in this role as a no nonsense mentor. He explains to Bobby that his job is to help another person. But Bobby is not very sophisticated or intelligent to understand what this entails. At first this gets over his greasy haired head. Bobby is to help a weak and wimpy teenager named Lenny who gets picked on by a couple of bullies at school. Lenny has that typical aggravating existence of insecurity where he gets little respect and cannot muster enough self-confidence to defend himself. Bobby is the polar opposite of Lenny in Character. He's slimy, confident, tough as nails, stronger than an ox and is as manly as they come. When Bobby observes Lenny and learns that this will be his assignment he is not too keen on the idea, but would rather go through than settle for the alternative. While Lenny is reading a poem near a cliff he unexpectedly loses his balance and the clumsy kid plummets about a 100 feet until this strange guy, Bobby, catches the clumsy Lenny in his arms. Bobby makes a wry comment about how the kid should be careful. As Lenny's limp body is cradled in Bobby's arms he precariously opens his eyes to see what has happened. Befuddled by this stranger's sudden appearance and incredible strength, he regains composure. Bobby plants Lenny back on his feet and walks off as the kid thanks him. Bobby thinks this is the extent of his assignment, but Rafferty doesn't let Bobby earn the prize so easily. His job is to inspire confidence in this insecure and wimpy teenager. You can pretty much guess at this point where the movie is headed. The rest of the film combines a mixture of mildly crude and scatological humor while also being corny. The parents always appear to be your typical parents of 80's movies. The cute girls are always flirtatious and suggest a propensity to sex more than girls in reality are. The Heavenly Kid is actually pretty stupid at times with its silly themes, but the story redeems itself in the final 20 minutes where our lead character chooses to save his friend's life instead of saving his soul - the ultimate expression of loyalty and friendship.Lenny does become more popular with the girls as a result of changing his dress and attitude, courtesy of Bobby's mentoring. But Lenny only changes his façade. He lacks the toughness and strength to defend himself against physical fights. He relies on Bobby's toughness and fighting strengths to save his life and protect him in fights. Bobby, in essence, acts as his Guardian angel, bodyguard, mentor and fiend. In the climax, it's Bobby who learns the most about himself and that sometimes being tough and acting cool is not enough in life.

One of the best moments in the film is both times when Bobby is in the car about to run over the cliff, where he shouts his infamous "Oh Sh..!" catchphrase, adding hilarity to what would usually be considered a tragic situation. I think the movie is one of the classics of the 80s, from the cheesy special effects to the even cheesier dialogue. But it has a good lesson in the end, even though it is curtailed by endless attempts at visual amazement. The actress who plays Bobby's love interest doesn't seem to age a day from the first scene to the last, which supposedly takes place over at least 17 years. Even funnier is how the entire handcuff scene and locked door scene during the races are never explained. Grade A storytelling!

This movie sucked in more ways than I can say. OK. It's not that bad. Wait yes it was. It was awful. How many times do we need to see this plot. Dead guy turns angel to help others, only he does things his way and learns lesson that his way is the wrong way, and the kid is more than just some random kid. Ohhh. Didn't see that one coming. Brother. 1.5/10 try and miss this flick. I was stuck in a hotel with a brother in law that likes this crap.

This film is an unknown classic. I caught it one time on vacation and rented promptly afterwards. Sure, it has a few plot holes here and there, but please-what movie doesn't? Seriously, has anybody looked at the "goofs" section for other movies? Come on!It's a teen movie which should have been released in this day and age...my generation would appreciate it much more. My friends and I were rolling on the floor during such parts as *spoiler* when Bobby and Lenny get high, or when Lenny thinks he's so studly after he's "scored". There are also sweet moments when *spoiler* Bobby reunites with his old girlfriend Emily (he died in a car crash in the '60s and has come back as an angel to protect Lenny so he can get into heaven...not exactly on the line with my beliefs...but anyways) who is Lenny's mom...and we find out later *spoiler* that Bobby is Lenny's dad. Very cute-Bobby is willing to go "downtown" (Hell) for his son...it shows true character and heartfelt love. Beautiful soundtrack, beautiful plot, beautiful movie.