ALWAYS (1989)

* * 1/2

PG, C-122m, USA

D: Steven Spielberg; Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, John Goodman, Brad Johnson, Audrey Hepburn, Marg Helgenberger

Tagline: They couldn't hear him. They couldn't see him. But he was there when they needed him... Even after he was gone.

Steven Spielberg's modern remake of 1942's A Guy Named Joe doesn't really work as a romance in my opinion, but has very appealing performances. Pete (Richard Dreyfuss), a firefighting pilot who dies in a freak accident, saves the life of his best friend Al (John Goodman). His ghost has trouble letting his fiancee (Holly Hunter) move on with her life.

It's not a great movie, but definitely fits the criteria for "good corn". It's sweet, and you can't help liking these characters. Nobody is a true villain, not even Pete. He is understandably upset at being prematurely ripped away from his beloved Dorinda, let alone watching another man (especially one as handsome as bland Ted Baker (Brad Johnson) shyly approach her, even bypassing the opportunity to date the lovely Rachel (a woefully underused Marg Helgenberger).

But why can't Pete just go to the afterlife and forget about her? It seems cruel of the angel Hap (Audrey Hepburn in her final role) to force him to guide his replacement, not only in flying, but romancing his own fiancee. But he has to learn to let Dorinda go and to show his love by letting her move on.

In this humble critic's opinion, Little Miss Firecracker herself is just too much woman for a blank slate like Ted. Her reaction to this handsome stranger's attention is funny but true: "I just can't be with someone who looks like I won him in a raffle." When Ted stops being so stiff and does John Wayne impressions, she softens toward him. He's the perfect boyfriend - handsome, polite, attentive, and sincere. But it's when he starts reminding her of Pete in little ways (John Wayne impressions, donkey laugh, and a talent for aviation) and performs an act of heroism that she becomes intrigued.

All the leads are engaging, and I'm a sucker for movies about ghosts in love (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Ghost, Blythe Spirit). I usually can't stand Richard Dreyfuss's characters - as Dorinda observes, he laughs like a donkey. But he's very good here, though I liked him best in American Graffiti, Jaws, and Mr. Holland's Opus.

The dialogue is very 40s-speak; they really should have set this in the 1940s, like the original. I mean really: A 'contemporary' 80s gal named "Dorinda Durston"? Very corny but there are moments of sweetness, like tomboyish Dorinda's reaction to Pete's birthday present: a beautiful white evening gown, exclaiming, "Girl clothes!" and "It's not the dress... it's the way you see me.")

Also endearing is the way "alive" Pete adoringly shoos Dorinda out onto the dance floor to dance with their pilot buddies, cheerfully handing out towels for their grimy mitts (Dorinda: "Nobody dances with this dress until they wash their hands."). "Oh, boooysss... That's a-right! You a-wanna dance with my girl... you a-gotta wipe your hands... whoa! That's not a towel!"

The harrowing forest fires and flying stunts are something to see. If you don't care for the drippy romance, see it for the action scenes. I really respect firefighters, and this just solidifies it. They are true heroes.

Though it could have been edited to a shorter length as well as a host of other things I could think of, it's still worth catching on a rainy afternoon.

Holly Hunter and John Goodman work well in supporting roles, and even have chemistry with each other. To be honest, I would have been much more interested in Pete having to watch his best friend Al fall for Dorinda, and the complications that would have ensued. Goodman is a wonderful actor, and never gets to be the leading man in a serious romance. He's a big guy, but always plays even his comic roles with dignity - unlike most character actors of his girth, he isn't just the leading man's comic foil, but beneath the jovial exterior peeks something a little more thoughtful, even dark. Here he's very charismatic and fun, and has way more personality than the Ted Baker character. He doesn't get to do much, but steals every scene he's in. I could totally see the friendship between him and Dorinda grow into something else, and the guilt feelings that would plague both. Pete would be even more miserable, knowing that they never hooked up while he was alive, but still resenting them for going on as if he no longer mattered. But that's another movie.

This is an interesting take on the afterlife. It's not The Lovely Bones, but I enjoyed following the characters on their journeys - Dorinda's to accepting a different kind of happiness from the one she expected and Pete's to unearthing a nobility he never knew he had.