'Eternity' Review: Da'Vine Joy Randolph Spawns Underwritten Romantic Comedy

There is no shortage of fantasy gems about afterlife bureaucracy in conflict with true love, including “Here Comes Mr. Jordan” (remade into another classic, “Heaven Can Wait”), Powell-Pressburger's wartime masterpiece “A Matter of Life and Death” and Albert Brooks' “Defending Your Life.” “Eternity,” set in a way station that resembles a blocky airport Radisson when full, may never become pantheon material. But in screenwriter Pat Cunnane's clever riff on love triangles and limbos, directed by David Freyne with nods to the heavenly cheekiness of those earlier films, there are signs that the romantic comedy itself needn't be left for dead.

In the 65-year marriage of Larry and Joan (played in the opening scenes by veterans Barry Primus and Betty Buckley), it is Larry who goes first, unexpectedly, since Joan is the one who is terminally ill. However, when he awakens in Junction, he is his younger self (enter Miles Teller) and finds himself thrust into an atmosphere akin to a travel agent convention, with countless options for the next stage and an experienced Beyond Coordinator named Anna (Da'Vine Joy Randolph of “The Holdovers”) to facilitate his selection.

The problem (which is never fully rationalized, but whatever) is that once your eternity theme is chosen, maybe it's driven by location (beach? Mountains?) or a reaction to what irritated you on Earth (Man-Free World is popular), that's all. There are no repetitions. But when Joan (Elizabeth Olsen) arrives shortly after Larry, she discovers not only a husband she hopes to share forever with her, but also her first love, Luke (Callum Turner), long dead, preserved in his youth, having waited decades to rekindle their all-too-brief passion.

Within the playful atmosphere of a kitsch shopping mall, “Eternity” poses a tantalizingly emotional scenario: Should the unknown or the familiar prevail? Even the coordinators choose sides. (Joan's planner favors the dreamy-looking Luke.) But as much as the script tries to complicate things by emphasizing the basic goodness of each perpetuity suitor (Larry is steadfast and sincere, Luke radiates patient sacrifice), “Eternity” has a personality problem in that only Teller has been given anything to play. Irritable, neurotic, decent, confused and sardonic, Larry is a refreshing nod to the kind of spiky misadventure that Jack Lemmon mastered. Teller's old-school charisma in conveying that nervous energy is his own bid for a career forever.

If only Olsen and Turner's characters were so generously written; Joan and Luke just aren't that interesting. Turner has been given the role of Ralph Bellamy, but he's less forgiving that Joan, even with Olsen well-equipped for eccentric Lombard vibes, is so barely conceived outside of the “cast.”

That makes the richest conclusion to this mostly cheerful if tonally muddled film the absolutely winning pairing of Teller and Randolph. Its thorny, sweet, moving scenes, traversing comically rich terrain from client to lost soul to friend, are the film's best, suggesting the most philosophically compassionate possibilities (“Groundhog Day” meets “Oh, God!”) that you wish had been explored.

It's not that “Eternity,” after a plot twist that fooled this viewer, doesn't find an ingenious way to stick to its heartfelt landing. As good as Teller is as a husband in crisis, Oscar-winner Randolph is his own source of light, enough to sell this feel-good film's wry recaps and commentary. She's gotten plenty of support for other people's stories these past few years; Someone give this world-class actress her own heavenly leading role.