Chances Are

Name: Chances Are
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Romance
Released: March 10, 1989
Duration: 108 min
Rating: 62
Cast: Cybill Shepherd, Mary Stuart Masterson, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan O'Neal

1989

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Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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6.5

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6.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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Chances Are

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Movie Details & Credits

TriStar Pictures | Release Date: March 10, 1989 | PG

Starring: Cybill Shepherd, Mary Stuart Masterson, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan O'Neal

Summary: Louie Jeffries is happily married to Corinne. On their first anniversary, Louie is killed crossing the road. Louie is reincarnated as Alex Finch, and twenty years later, fate brings Alex and Louie's daughter, Miranda, together. It's not until Alex is invited to Louie's home that he begins to remember his former life, wife and best friend.Louie Jeffries is happily married to Corinne. On their first anniversary, Louie is killed crossing the road. Louie is reincarnated as Alex Finch, and twenty years later, fate brings Alex and Louie's daughter, Miranda, together. It's not until Alex is invited to Louie's home that he begins to remember his former life, wife and best friend. Of course, there's also the problem that he's attracted to Louie's/his own daughter.… Expand

Director: Emile Ardolino

Genre(s): Fantasy, Comedy, Romance

Rating: PG

Runtime: 108 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert

The movie itself is surprisingly affecting, perhaps because Shepherd never goes for easy laughs but plays her character seriously. Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Despite the sudsy, overlit look of William A. Fraker's cinematography and Downey's varying success with sight gags, this is still a lot of fun. An additional kicker is provided by the picture's crazed doublethink morality, which implies that incest is OK as long as you've got amnesia. Read full review

Dave Kehr

Though the gags make great use of embarrassment, they stop short of actively humiliating the characters, a gesture that these days counts as something fine and noble. [10 March 1989, p.E]

David Ansen

The preposterousness of the premise (concocted by writers Perry Howze and Randy Howze) is the appeal of Chances Are. The problem is the execution. Where "Heaven Can Wait" seduced you into belief with its expert comic timing and romantic urgency, director Emile ("Dirty Dancing") Ardolino's fantasy grows increasingly labored as it piles improbability upon psychological impossibility. [20 March 1989, p.83]

Michael Wilmington

The talk and plot twists both have a flavorless, perfunctory quality. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

An enjoyable, light-hearted romantic comedy with some cute incestuous undertones, CHANCES ARE is among the best of the body-switch films that cluttered movie screens in the late 1980s. Read full review

Janet Maslin

Romantic comedies, of which Chances Are is nominally one, are better off making their characters appear glamorous and attractive than making them look like ineffectual, long-suffering nincompoops, which is the case here. Read full review

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User Reviews

stevekm

Mar 7, 2023

Good rom-com with a twist. As the movie opens, we have all the elements of a love triangle, but this is a comedy, so no, we get a twist. Not your usual story line, this one is different, in a good way.

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rwncop

Nov 24, 2020

"All he wants is your money, you're wrong he wants my body"

Out of all the romantic films I've seen, I've never seen something so weird, I was dead in the first ten minutes. I can't really explain it without spoiling so I guess you need to see this to understand why this might be my"All he wants is your money, you're wrong he wants my body"

Out of all the romantic films I've seen, I've never seen something so weird, I was dead in the first ten minutes. I can't really explain it without spoiling so I guess you need to see this to understand why this might be my Halloween 2021 film.

Looking away from the story, I thought the acting carried the film. Robert Downey Jr played a good role, I think this may have been his first big film taking the lead.

Technically the film wasn't nothing special. A lot of the editing was very meh, it's like it was trying to break the laws of the cut (however I don't think this was the editors fault). Cinematography was interesting with some nice shots, but at the same time there were shots that were probably used in the edit because there was nothing better to use. With the few songs the film used, I'd say it was a suitable selection, but I think "Never Gonna Give You Up" should have been included.… Expand

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