Hello Again (1987)

11% of critics liked it
(18 reviews)
47% of users liked it
(5,767 ratings)

Writer Susan Isaacs and director Frank Perry of Compromising Positions re-team for this resurrection fantasy comedy. Shelley Long plays Lucy Chadman, the accident-prone wife of plastic surgeon Jason Chadman (Corbin Bernsen). When she chokes to death after eating a South Korean chicken ball, a… More Writer Susan Isaacs and director Frank Perry of Compromising Positions re-team for this resurrection fantasy comedy. Shelley Long plays Lucy Chadman, the accident-prone wife of plastic surgeon Jason Chadman (Corbin Bernsen). When she chokes to death after eating a South Korean chicken ball, a funeral is held and she is mourned, but then everyone goes on with their lives and forgets about her. Everyone, that is, except her sister Zelda (Judith Ivey). Zelda runs an occult bookstore and as she peruses one of her books of incantations, she discovers a magical chant that can raise the dead. Obeying the rules of the incantation -- it has to be performed a year after the person dies and the resurrected person must find love within 30 days or the person will die again -- she brings back Lucy to life. Lucy immediately proceeds to her husband's home and finds that he is married to her best friend Kim (Sela Ward). She now has to deal with the changed circumstances of her husband, along with a burgeoning love affair with Kevin Scanlon (Gabriel Byrne), the emergency-room doctor who had tried to save her life. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: Frank Perry
Genres: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy

In Theaters: Nov 6, 1987 Wide
On DVD: Apr 6, 2004

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
Shelley Long wanders through a script she can't carry by herself while heading a cast handled with less than a Midas touch by director Frank Perry, who seems to think he's staging a high school play.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
A high-concept comedy with a terminally low laugh content.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
There are the makings of a great comedy here, but you will not find more than scattered hints of it.
Hal Hinson, Washington Post
All of this is presented with a broad-stroked, sitcom raucousness that's pretty tough to stomach.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
As predictable as the sun rising.
, Time Out
Merely the excuse for a parade of expensive clothes and opulent locations, with Shelley Long milking her role for any drop of pathos, this is good for a giggle at best.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
yikes
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
There are worse films, but they don't have Gabriel Byrne in them
Mark R. Leeper, rec.arts.movies.reviews
For the first eighty minutes or so the story seems aimless but amiable, then suddenly things do start to happen, but nothing very good.

Read all 9 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

A really good dark comedy with a good cast, it's very funny, if you like movies where dead people come back with funny results, you'll like this movie.
Leo L

A funny movie about life, love, and friendship. Quirky, at first but one cannot help but fall in love with it.

Cast

            Shelley Long as Lucy Chadman

            Judith Ivey as Zelda Lucy's Sister

            Gabriel Byrne as Dr. Kevin Scanlon

            Corbin Bernsen as Dr. Jason Chadman

            Sela Ward as Kim Lacey

            Austin Pendleton as Junior Lacey

            Carrie Nye as Regina Holt

            Robert M. Lewis as Phineas Devereux

            Madeleine Potter as Felicity

            Thor Fields as Danny Chadman

            Elkan Abramowitz as Burns

            John Cunningham as Bruce Holt

            Illeana Douglas as Woman in Park

            Mary Fogarty as Maid

            Colin Fox as Clergyman

            Patricia Gage as Bejewelled Woman

            I.M. Hobson as Butler

            Kaiulani Lee as Miss Lee

            Kate McGregor-Stewart
            
            Everett Quinton as Occultist

            Shirley Rich as Miss Tammy

            Marcell Rosenblatt
            
            John Rothman as Bearded man

            Karen Shallo as Wig-Pulling Woman

            Lynne Thigpen
            
            Anna Marie Wieder as Reporter

            Chip Zien
            
            Suzanne Barnes as Jason's Nurse

            Mary Armstrong as Financial Newscaster

            Elyzebeth Chrystea as Lady at Party

            Rose Indri as Plastic Surgery Patient

            Robert Lempert as Reporter

            Paul Royce as Hospital Bystander

            Debra D. Stewart as E.R. Nurse

            John Tillinger as T.V. Moderator

            Royce Rich
            
            Catherine Tambini
            
            Susan Isaacs
            
See full cast