| Chances Are | |
| Director: | Emile Ardolino |
| Producer: | Mike Lobell |
| Music: | Maurice Jarre |
| Cinematography: | William A. Fraker |
| Color Process: | Metrocolor |
| Editing: | Harry Keramidas |
| Distributor: | Tri-Star Pictures |
| Runtime: | 108 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $16 million |
| Gross: | $16.3 million |
Chances Are is a 1989 American romantic comedy film directed by Emile Ardolino and starring Cybill Shepherd, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan O'Neal, and Mary Stuart Masterson in Panavision. The original music score was composed by Maurice Jarre.
Young district attorney Louie Jeffries is hit by a car and dies in 1964, but manages to slip by the pearly gates and is reborn. In 1987, twenty-three years later, his widow Corinne still misses him, ignoring the devotion of his best friend Phillip Train, who has raised Louie's only daughter Miranda as his own. Miranda, while a student at Yale University, meets Alex Finch, who works in the library but is about to graduate.
After graduation, Alex heads to Washington, D.C., and reaches the offices of The Washington Post. His first attempts to meet with Ben Bradlee thwarted, he schemes his way into his 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. However, 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 in the lobby, who offers him a ride, during which Phillip invites Alex to meet the Jeffries family over dinner. While at the Jeffries' home, which he had not ever been to, Alex begins to have flashbacks of a previous life. Anguished, he begins to act crazed and confused. Alex eventually realizes that he is Louie Jeffries reincarnated.
Miranda, wanting to continue the flirtation that started when they met, is confused when Alex rebuffs her, sending her to her room when she kisses him. Alex then goes to Corrine and tries to convince her that he is Louie. At first she does not believe him, but he mentions details about their life together that only Louie would know.
Corrine gives in, and they kiss. Taking a trip together away from town, she is a disturbed when people think that Alex is her son. Louie/Alex wants to have sex, but Corrine reveals she has not had sex since Louie died.
One night, when Alex and Corrine are together, they are 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 him but gets knocked out instead. Corinne rushes to Phillip's side, and yells at Alex to leave the room. Louie/Alex realizes then that she loves Phillip too, so Louie must let go.
Corrine slips a note under Alex's door, apologizing and saying that she will visit him later. Alex puts the still-unconscious Phillip in his bed, so that when Corinne arrives, thinking that he is Louie, she accidentally kisses Phillip. He is ecstatic, and Corinne realizes she loves him too. They have sex.
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 incriminating photographs of the judge in 1964). Phillip, who is also in the courtroom, realizes that only Louie would know that fact, and now believes Alex is Louie. Alex tells Phillip the location of his camera with the photographs.
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 him, and gives him the special "shot" he should have gotten twenty-three years before, to forget his past life.
When Alex wakes up, he has forgotten about being Louie. The last thing he remembers is kissing Miranda in the kitchen of her house. She 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 says that he is in love with Miranda, just as Phillip told Louie he was in love with Corinne on their wedding day all those years earlier.
The film was known prior to production as Life After Life and Unforgettable.[1]
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.
Chances Are received generally positive reviews from critics, but did not do well at the box office. As of May 2024, the film holds a rating of 67% on Rotten Tomatoes from 33 reviews.[2]
Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun Times gave the film 3 and 1/2 out of 4 stars saying, “"Chances Are" is a lighthearted romance about reincarnation, told with wit and a certain irony.”[3]
| Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards[4] | Best Original Song | "After All" Music by Tom Snow; Lyrics by Dean Pitchford | |
| BMI Film & TV Awards | Most Performed Song from a Film | ||
| Golden Globe Awards[5] | Best Original Song – Motion Picture |
The soundtrack included the Billboards Top 10 single hit song "After All" (composed by Tom Snow and lyrics by Dean Pitchford) performed by Cher and Peter Cetera. 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. Although the film contains other songs, a soundtrack album has never been released.