''Hello Again'' is a 1987 American

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

fantasy- comedy film directed and produced by Frank Perry, written by

Susan Isaacs Susan Isaacs (born December 7, 1943) is an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter. She adapted her debut novel into the film ''Compromising Positions''. Early life, family and education She was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Helen Asher ...

and starring Shelley Long, Judith Ivey, Gabriel Byrne, Corbin Bernsen, Sela Ward,

Austin Pendleton Austin Campbell Pendleton (born March 27, 1940) is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and instructor. He is known as a prolific character actor on the stage and screen who has appeared in films including ''Catch-22'' (1970); '' W ...

Carrie Nye Carolyn Nye McGeoy (October 14, 1936 – July 14, 2006), known professionally as Carrie Nye, was an American actress. In her career spanning 32 years, she was nominated for a Tony Award in 1965, a Primetime Emmy Award in 1980, and a Drama Desk ...

, Robert Lewis, Madeleine Potter, Thor Fields and Illeana Douglas.

Plot

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

housewife Lucy Chadman is in the midst of a tarot card reading by her

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

sister, Zelda. Just as Zelda exclaims something is going to happen, Lucy begins to choke to death on a South Korean chicken ball. The film shows the difficulty of Lucy's loved ones, including Zelda, had in coping with her death. But the grief turns to excitement when Zelda receives a book of spells called ''The Wisdom of Catagonia''. Within the book Zelda finds a spell that requires perfect astronomical timing—the moon, the earth, and the dog star must form a perfect

isosceles triangle In geometry, an isosceles triangle () is a triangle that has two sides of equal length. Sometimes it is specified as having ''exactly'' two sides of equal length, and sometimes as having ''at least'' two sides of equal length, the latter versio ...

. Zelda performs the spell and Lucy appears. Lucy begins to reacquaint herself with living and with her family who are shocked to see her alive again, one year later, and soon discovers that she cannot simply pick her life back up where she left off. She returns to find her widower husband has sold their home and married her greedy and double-crossing friend from college. Meanwhile, her son has opened his own successful restaurant and married, instead of going to Columbia. When she returns to the hospital in which she died, the emergency room doctor who tried to revive her begins to fall for her. Zelda confides in the doctor that if Lucy does not find love by the next full moon, she will have to go back to the spirit world. He does not believe Zelda. Eventually, the press finds out that Lucy came back from the dead, and plague her, her family, and the hospital the ER doctor works at. Her college friend becomes jealous of her media attention and the attention Lucy is getting from Mr. Chadman. She holds a news conference of her own and tells the media Lucy made the whole thing up—claiming that Lucy used tetrodotoxin as a means to fake her own death. Lucy does not defend herself, as she sees this as an opportunity to rid herself and her friends of the media. Instead, the doctor gets fired, her sister's occult store is vandalized and she is hated by almost everyone, except her family. She decides to end the debacle once and for all by tricking her college friend into admitting she lied about Lucy faking her death in front of the media at a party the hospital is having. Lucy, the doctor, and her family walk away happily. As the credits roll, we see that both Lucy and Zelda get married and have children with their new loves. Lucy's son also becomes a father.

Cast

* Shelley Long as Lucy Chadman * Judith Ivey as Zelda * Gabriel Byrne as Kevin Scanlon * Corbin Bernsen as Jason Chadman * Sela Ward as Kim Lacey *

as Junior Lacey *

as Regina Holt * Robert Lewis as Phineas Devereaux * Madeleine Potter as Felicity Glick * Thor Fields as Danny Chadman * Kate McGregor-Stewart as Reporter #1

Reception

''Hello Again'' was released theatrically by Touchstone Pictures on November 6, 1987. The film opened at No. 2 at the box office, earning $5,712,892 at its opening weekend. It ultimately grossed $20,419,446 in its entire run. The film received negative reviews and holds a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 20 critics.

References

External links

* * * * {{Frank Perry 1987 films 1980s fantasy comedy films 1987 romantic comedy films 1980s romantic fantasy films American fantasy comedy films American romantic comedy films American romantic fantasy films Films about death Films directed by Frank Perry Films set in Long Island Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Resurrection in film Touchstone Pictures films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films