Hello Again (1987) from Tuna

Shelley Long plays a klutz of a housewife, living in suburban Long Island, and married to a social climbing plastic surgeon who she fears is outgrowing her. She goes to her rather eccentric psychic sister for advice, and shortly chokes to death on a South Korean chicken ball.

No, that's not the end of the film.

Wishful thinking.

A year later, the sister brings her back to life. By then, hubby has married her social climbing best friend, has become department head of plastic surgery at a prestigious hospital, and now lives in a posh Manhattan neighborhood. The resurrected Shelley is an embarrassment to him, and also to the hospital who had pronounced her dead.

She befriends another doctor, who tests her thoroughly, and discovers that she was, in fact, the woman that died, and has now come back to life. The press catches wind of the miracle, and she suddenly becomes a one woman media event. Meanwhile, since the plot seems to be too realistic and totally lacking in gimmicks up to that point, we learn from the crazy sister that Shelley must find true love in a month or less, or she will not be allowed to stay alive.

Much of the humor is supposed to come from Long's pratfalls, but she was not up to the physical comedy, and they should have had some talented comedy writers working on the dialogue. I am a Long fan, but her characteristic "cuteness" was not enough to carry this film. I didn't get a single chuckle, and had trouble staying awake.

NUDITY REPORT

Shelley Long - butt crack.

DVD info from Amazon

  • no features, no widescreen, crappy film.

The transfer is a little grainy, but passable, and the film is photographed and edited well, but the story brings it clear down to the D level. Hello Again is simply a very weak Shelley Long comedy which is notable only for a rare glimpse of Shelley's skin when she shows her butt crack in a hospital gown. Next time I am in the mood for a Shelley Long film, I will rewatch Night Shift, or Outrageous Fortune.

The Critics Vote ...

  • Roger Ebert 2/4

The People Vote ...

  • It grossed a surprisingly high $20 million in a maximum of 1200 theaters.
The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-.

Based on this description, this is a D. Very weak, not even recommended for Shelley Long's fans. Either of them.

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