Lance Barton is a struggling comedian who has trouble connecting with audiences. After a rough night on stage, his prospects seem to narrow to one last performance at the Apollo Theater, which is about to close. An accident ends his life, and he finds himself in a heavenly limbo, where two angels offer him a temporary place in the body of Charles Wellington III, a rich man who has just died under suspicious circumstances. The arrangement was meant to be brief, but Lance's presence in this borrowed life starts to complicate matters.

How it was made

The film is a remake of Heaven Can Wait (1978), which itself adapted a 1938 stage play by Harry Segall. Directed by Chris and Paul Weitz, it was written by Chris Rock with Louis C.K., Ali LeRoi and Lance Crouther, and Rock also produced alongside Michael Rotenberg and James Jacks. Village Roadshow Pictures produced it. Richard Crudo handled cinematography, Priscilla Nedd-Friendly edited, and Jamshied Sharifi composed the score. The cast includes Regina King as Sontee Jenkins, along with Jennifer Coolidge, Wanda Sykes and Eugene Levy.

Reception and legacy

The film was released on February 16, 2001 by Paramount Pictures. Critics gave it largely negative reviews, with a score of 32 out of 100 on Metacritic, while CinemaScore audiences gave it an average grade of B. It grossed about 71 million dollars worldwide. It won no major awards, though Regina King was nominated for the NAACP Image Awards, the Black Reel Awards and the BET Awards.