The Five People You Meet in Heaven (Film)

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The Five People You Meet in Heaven in my opinion is one of the most enjoyable stories I have read and seen. I loved that the story line of the movie was very accurate, if not identical to the novel. The makers of the movie did an incredible job desplaying Eddie thoughts and actions throughout the whole movie. Throughout the whole film, Eddie kept flipping back and forth between his past and present experiences. The makers of the movie continuosly used fades to smoothly transition from one time period to the next. The fades made it convincing to its audience watching (or reading the film) that Eddie was reminiscing about his past events. What I loved most about the movie is that with each person that Eddie (played by Jon Voight) visited, they each gave a very valuable lesson about life and how one can make it better for themself. Even though the actors said the same lines that were writen in the book, they each said the words with such power and meaning that made me personally want to be a better person. The only thing that I was not nessasarily happy with was that the movie is a more romanticized version of some of the events that Eddie went through. One example of this would be when Eddie met the fifth person in heaven. When the fifth person revealed what she looked like when she was burned in the war, the book described her in a way that made her look grotesque. She looked so bad that Eddie was afraid to look at her, but in the movie it looked like she might have gotten a second degree burn rather than a burn that killed her. Overall I love this movie, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Quote
"Holding anger is a poison...It eats you from inside...We think that by hating someone we hurt them...But hatred is a curved blade...and the harm we do to others...we also do to ourselves..." (Ruby)

Even though this is the same quote that is said in the book, I believe this is the most valuable quote throughout the whole movie. I loved how Ruby explained to Eddie that keeping anger is never the answer, and does nothing more than hurt the person who feels all the hatred. This movie is a great example of how people should live their everyday lives. If people would listen to the values that are listed in this movie, the world would be a better place.