This is one of strangest films I have ever watched. It is, on the surface at least, pro-life, and yet it is also strongly pro-divination. The latter being all the more harmful for it being presented in a saccharine romantic-comedy package. And although these divination aspects form a relatively small portion of the actual film, viewers should be left in no doubt that the marketing of the film (see the Dreamworks website for this production) focuses heavily on these aspects, with a link enticing viewers to 'visit Darryl' upon which they are taken through to horoscope-based 'lovescopes'. The above summary title to this post is taken from 2 Corinthians 11:14, and it aptly sums this film up.

For those reading this review that haven't yet seen 'Just Like Heaven', I should summarise by telling you that one of the basic plot strands is David (the male lead as played by Mark Ruffalo) trying to make contact with the spirit of his deceased former occupant of his apartment, Elizabeth (the female lead as played by Reese Witherspoon). In doing so, numerous mediums and spiritualists are recruited to make contact; one of which, a Roman Catholic exorcist, is dismissed out of hand by being portrayed in a pathetically comical manner. However David does stumble upon one stoned-out young man who works in the local spiritualist-come-witchcraft bookshop, who appears to have some inner sensitivity to after-life spirits.

This pro-divination content outweighs the pro-life aspects in my opinion. Any course of action that opens up one's spirit to non-Christian entities is a dangerous route to take. The initial state of one's spirit dictates the state of the entirety of one's subsequent thoughts and actions; for it is only through the spirit that good and evil can flow. Roy Shoeman's excellent book 'Salvation is from the Jews' is good in highlighting how an occult initiation ceremony was central to Hitler's subsequent works. Is a film such as this really so dangerous? I personally knew a girl, who, having lost her father when she was a child, turned to Ouija boards and the like later on in her life in an attempt to make contact with him. And the possibility of this film putting similar thoughts into other young peoples' minds is not unrealistic.

The Catholic Church's teaching is clear and #2116 of the Catechism states: 'All forms of divination are to be rejected... the phenomenon of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history and, in the last analysis, other beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honour, respect and loving fear that we owe to God alone'. #2117 goes on to say 'All practices of magic or sorcery... are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion'. These teachings are so even if the purpose is to restore someone's health or for some other supposed good.

All of this is a shame, because the central premise of the plot (at least i thought it was until the very last scene) is that Elizabeth has to become more true to herself and find genuine caring love in her life before she can move on. And that message is a good one and a true one. Even the fact that Elizabeth is a spirit, or more aptly a soul, and still walking around in the world, could have been handled without going against Christian principles. In fact the portrayal of Elizabeth's spirit feeling the physical touches to her body was very well done. And the more I think of it, the more I realise there was no real need for the inclusion of mediums and spiritualists at all.

Their inclusion does matter though because it's often the spiritual truths, or half-truths, that people latch on to in films. In fact watching this film has given me a new appreciation for the film 'Big' starring Tom Hanks. In that film, the fortune telling machine was portrayed in such a menacing way that from a young age it instilled in me an implicit dislike of anything to do fortune-telling or divination. That film isn't perfect though due the sexual insinuations it also makes. Another missed opportunity.

All in all I advise you to steer clear of this film and I advise you to steer clear of all occult practices including the consultation of horoscopes, astrology, palm-reading, interpretation of omens and lots, tarot cards, mediums, clairvoyants, and all other associated and/or similar activities.