'LIFE' PARTNERS Streep and Brooks are heavenly
Defending Your Life: Everett Collection
Meryl Streep
SCREEN GEM: Defending Your Life (1991)COSTARS Albert Brooks, Rip Torn, Lee Grant
PREMISE In this Brooks-directed satire, the afterlife proves no less bureaucratic than life on Earth. Streep and Brooks are a match made in purgatory: Her altruistic life means she'll progress to a higher plane of existence; his angsty time on Earth makes him a likely candidate to be sent back for another go at it.
FUN FACT Universal Studios' tramway buses stand in for Judgment City's only means of transport.
WHY IT'S GREAT Like ''Adaptation,'' ''Defending'' displays Streep's natural comic talents. It's a joy to see her so relaxed, easygoing, and enchanting -- no wonder Brooks falls for her.
