''Chances Are'' is a 1989 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Emile Ardolino Emile Ardolino (May 9, 1943 – November 20, 1993) was an American television and film director and producer, best known for his work on the films ''Dirty Dancing'' (1987) and ''Sister Act'' (1992). He has won an Academy Award for Best Documenta ...

and starring

Cybill Shepherd Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. ...

Robert Downey Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of ...

Ryan O'Neal Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Pla ...

, and

Mary Stuart Masterson Mary Stuart Masterson (born June 28, 1966) is an American actress and director. She has starred in the films '' At Close Range'' (1986), '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), '' Chances Are'' (1989), '' Fried Green Tomatoes'' (1991) and '' Benny & ...

Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses durin ...

. The original music score was composed by

Maurice Jarre Maurice-Alexis Jarre (; 13 September 1924 – 28 March 2009) allmusic Biography/ref> was a French composer and conductor. Although he composed several concert works, Jarre is best known for his film scores, particularly for his collaborations wit ...

Plot

Louie Jeffries, a young district attorney, is hit by a car and dies in 1964, but manages to slip by the

pearly gates ''Pearly gates'' is an informal name for the gateway to Heaven according to some Christian denominations. It is inspired by the description of the New Jerusalem in : "The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate being made from a single pearl ...

and is instantly reborn. In 1987, 23 years later, his widow Corinne still misses him, ignoring the frustrated devotion of his best friend Phillip Train, who has pretty much raised Louie's only daughter Miranda as his own. Miranda, while a student at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

, meets Alex Finch, who works in the library but is about to graduate. After graduation, Alex heads to Washington, D.C., where he makes his way to the offices of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nat ...

''. His first attempts to meet with

Ben Bradlee Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (, 1921 – , 2014) was an American journalist who served as managing editor, then as executive editor of ''The Washington Post'', from 1965 to 1991. He became a public figure when the ''Post'' joined ''The New Y ...

thwarted, he schemes his way into Bradlee's office by pretending to be a delivery man. Alex walks into Bradlee's office, with Phillip behind him. Confounded by the young man, Bradlee asks who he is. When Alex attempts to remind him of their meeting at Yale, Phillip vouches for him, which changes his mind about giving him a meeting. Unfortunately, Bradlee feels Alex needs more time working on smaller papers before he can offer him a job. Feeling defeated, Alex leaves his office. Phillip finds Alex downstairs in the lobby, who offers Phillip a ride, during which Phillip invites Alex to meet the Jeffries family over dinner. While at the Jeffries' home, which he'd never previously been to, Alex begins to have flashbacks of a previous life. Anguished, he begins to act crazed and confused. Putting the pieces together, Alex realizes he is Louie Jeffries, Corinne's dead husband, reincarnated. Miranda, wanting to continue the flirtation that started when they met, is confused when Alex rebuffs her and orders her to go to her room when she kisses him. Alex then goes to Corrine and tries to convince Corrine that he's Louie. At first she doesn't believe him, but he tells her details about their earlier life together that only Louie would know. She finally gives in and they kiss. They take a trip together away from town, but Corrine is a little disturbed when people think Alex is her son. Louie/Alex wants to make love, but Corrine reveals she hasn't had sex since Louie died. One night when Alex and Corrine are together, they're caught by Phillip, who accuses Alex of being a gold digger. Louie/Alex then reminds Phillip he declared his love for Corinne to Louie on their wedding day. Phillip is confused and tries to punch Alex but he gets punched instead, knocking him out. Corinne rushes to Phillip's side, and yells at Alex to get out of the room. Louie/Alex realizes then that she loves Phillip too, and Louie must let go. Corrine slips a note under Alex's door, saying she's sorry, and she'll visit him later. Alex puts the still-unconscious Phillip in his bed, so that when Corinne arrives, thinking he's Louie, she accidentally kisses Phillip. He's ecstatic, and Corinne realizes she loves him too. They make love. Alex spends the night in his car. The next day, he bursts into a courtroom and accuses the judge of accepting a bribe (Alex remembers himself as Louie taking the incriminating photographs of the then younger judge back in 1964). Phillip, who's also in the courtroom, realizes only Louie would know that fact, and now believes Alex is Louie. Alex tells Phillip the location of his camera with the photographs of the judge accepting the bribe. Attempting to escape from the commotion in the courtroom, Alex falls down the stairs, hits his head, and ends up in the hospital. While unconscious, Omar the angel visits Alex, and gives him the special "shot" he should have gotten 23 years previous, to forget his past life. When Alex wakes, he's completely forgotten about being Louie, and he tells Miranda that the last thing he remembers is their kissing in the kitchen of her house. Miranda is relieved and delighted. Newspaper headlines show the judge charged with accepting the bribe. Impressed by Alex's journalistic prowess in exposing the corrupt judge, Bradlee offers him a job as a reporter at the ''Post''. Corinne and Phillip get married, and at their wedding, Alex tells Phillip he's in love with Miranda, just as Phillip told Louie he was in love with Corinne on their wedding day all those years earlier.

Cast

as Corinne Jeffries *

as Alex Finch/Louie Jeffries *

as Phillip Train *

as Miranda Jeffries *

Christopher McDonald Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955) is an American film, television, theatre and voice actor. McDonald is best known for playing the villainous professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the 1996 comedy ''Happy Gilmore''. Other notable ...

as Louie Jeffries *

Josef Sommer Maximilian Josef Sommer (born June 26, 1934) is a retired German-American stage, television, and film actor. Early life He was born in Greifswald, Germany, and raised in North Carolina, the son of Elisabeth and Clemens Sommer, a professor of Art ...

as Judge Fenwick *

Joe Grifasi Joseph G. Grifasi (born June 14, 1944) is an American character actor of film, stage and television. Grifasi was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Patricia (née Gaglione) and Joseph J. Grifasi, a skilled laborer. Grifasi graduated from Bi ...

as Omar * Henderson Forsythe as Ben Bradlee *

Fran Ryan Fran Mary Ryan (November 29, 1916 January 15, 2000) was an American character actress featured in television and films. She was born in Los Angeles, California. Career Ryan began performing at the age of six at Oakland's Henry Duffy Theatre. ...

as Mavis Talmadge * James Noble as Dr. Bailey *

Marc McClure Marc McClure (born March 31, 1957) is an American actor known for playing Jimmy Olsen in the ''Superman'' series of feature films released between 1978 and 1987 and Dave McFly in the ''Back to the Future'' films. Career McClure appeared in the 19 ...

as Richard *

Susan Ruttan Susan Diane Ruttan (née Dunsrud; born September 16, 1948) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Roxanne Melman on ''L.A. Law'' (1986–1993), for which she was nominated four times for a Primetime Emmy Award. Life and care ...

as Woman in the Bookstore *

Mimi Kennedy Mary Claire "Mimi" Kennedy (born September 25, 1948) is an American actress, author, and activist. Best known for her roles in television sitcoms, Kennedy co-starred in numerous short-lived sitcoms before her role as Ruth Sloan on '' Homefront'' ...

as Sally *

Kathleen Freeman Kathleen Freeman (February 17, 1923August 23, 2001) was an American actress. In a career that spanned more than 50 years, she portrayed acerbic maids, secretaries, teachers, busybodies, nurses, and battle-axe neighbors and relatives, almost in ...

as Mrs. Handy *

Dennis Patrick Dennis Patrick (born Dennis Patrick Harrison; March 14, 1918 – October 13, 2002) was an American character actor, primarily in television. Early years Patrick was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Career Patrick is known for his work in ...

as Archibald Blair * Martin Garner as Mr. Zellerbach *

Gianni Russo Gianni Vito Russo is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Carlo Rizzi in the 1972 film ''The Godfather''. Life and career Russo was born in Manhattan in 1943 and raised in Little Italy and Staten Island. After reprisi ...

as Anthony Bonino *

Lester Lanin Nathaniel Lester Lanin (August 26, 1907 – October 27, 2004) was an American jazz and pop music bandleader. He was famous for long, smoothly arranged medleys, at a consistent rhythm and tempo, which were designed for continuous dancing. Lani ...

as Conductor

Production

The film was known prior to production as ''Life After Life'' and ''Unforgettable''. ''Chances Are'' was Cybill Shepherd's first film in a number of years. Her profile had risen since she starred in the television series '' Moonlighting'', and she made the film during a production hiatus from the series. Many scenes were filmed in Georgetown, along the Mall, Glen Echo Park, Smithsonian museums, and other parts of Washington, D.C.

Reception

''Chances Are'' received generally positive reviews from critics, but did not do well at the box office. As of October 2019, the film holds a rating of 67% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

from 30 reviews.

Awards and nominations

Soundtrack

The soundtrack included the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s Top 10 single hit song " After All" (composed by

Tom Snow Thomas Righter Snow (born 1947 in Princeton, New Jersey) is an American songwriter. Biography Snow has written songs for Gayle McCormick "( Even a Fool Would Let Go" with Kerry Chater – a song covered by a number of artists including Kenn ...

and lyrics by

Dean Pitchford Dean Pitchford (born July 29, 1951) is an American songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and novelist. His work has earned him an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three additional Oscars, two more Golden Globes, eig ...

) performed by

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industr ...

and

Peter Cetera Peter Paul Cetera ( ; born September 13, 1944) is an American retired musician best known for being a lead vocalist and the bassist of the rock band Chicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985, before launching a successful solo career. His c ...

. The song peaked at #6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in May 1989. Another is the song of the same title as the film sung by

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

. Although the film contains other songs, a soundtrack album has never been released.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{Emile Ardolino 1989 films 1980s fantasy comedy films 1989 romantic comedy films 1980s romantic fantasy films American fantasy comedy films American romantic comedy films American romantic fantasy films Films about reincarnation Films directed by Emile Ardolino Films scored by Maurice Jarre Films set in 1964 Films set in 1987 Films shot in California Films shot in Maryland Films shot in Washington, D.C. TriStar Pictures films Films set in Washington, D.C. 1980s English-language films 1980s American films