I watched my DVD of 'Just Like Heaven' a day after Valentine's Day, early in the morning, when I had just struggled out of bed, and was desperate to warm my frozen heart with a cheerful romantic comedy (I spent Valentine's Day alone, doing nothing but write a poem for someone who was rather far away), and any long-time readers of this site should know by now, I am a sucker for romantic comedies, and knew pretty well that this is a film that will most likely cheer myself up.
Yet there is one thing I have to say about supernatural romances, with the exception of Ghost (... okay, maybe there's Corpse Bride too), I don't recall any other major human/ghost romances from Hollywood that actually leave a deep impression, much unlike Hong Kong, when during the 80s and early 90s where films from this particular genre were everywhere, and pretty much regarded as classics of their own (Chinese Ghost Story, Happy Ghost, My Wife Is A Ghost, and countless other Hong Kong films which English titles I don't know come into mind. Hell, I even recommended 'My Left Eye Sees Ghost' as one of the perfect HK Valentine's Day films), perhaps it has to do with the fact that in Hong Kong, these supposed romantic comedies which started out wacky and crazy would usually become poignant and bittersweet, where we audiences can't help but lament the fact that regardless of how hard they try, our protagonists will never overcome such a major obstacle of one being actually dead, where the ending is usually never entirely happy, with the ghost heading off for reincarnation, and the hero seeking solace from meeting someone who looked entirely like the ghost (damn I hate cop-out endings like that).
