The cinema hasn't had too much luck with fantasy in recent times, and this film about death is on the whole pretty turgid stuff that only, if you'll pardon the expression, comes to life at the end. Albert Brooks, you see, is dead, and the story is about his 'processing' in Judgment City to see whether he goes on to a higher place, or back to earth to try again. This sort of thing always sounds good on paper, but Brooks barely gives it a chance, wearing too many hats as star, director (the biggest mistake) and writer. The segments with Meryl Streep (we should all meet Meryl in Heaven) are the best, but the scenes of Brooks' 'trial', with Rip Torn and Lee Grant as the opposing lawyers, are almost totally unsuccessful, with too little tightness in the telling. The emotive ending works pretty well, but it's almost too late: Brooks has already squeezed all but the last gasp of life out of his 'fantastic' project.


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