Defending Your Life (1991) [Criterion Collection]

Director: Albert Brooks
Writer: Albert Brooks
Stars: Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep, Rip Torn

Is there love after death? Acerbic everyman Albert Brooks finds a perfect balance between satirical bite and romantic-comedy charm as the writer, director, and star of this wonderfully warm and imaginative existential fantasy. After he dies suddenly, the hapless advertising executive Daniel Miller (Brooks) finds himself in Judgment City, a gleaming way station where the newly deceased must prove they lived a life of sufficient courage to advance in their journey through the universe. As the self-doubting Daniel struggles to make his case, a budding relationship with the uninhibited Julia (Meryl Streep) offers him a chance to finally feel alive. Buoyed by a pitch-perfect supporting cast that includes Rip Torn, Lee Grant, and Buck Henry, Defending Your Life is a rare feat of personal, philosophical filmmaking that happens to also be divinely entertaining.

Extras:
- New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Albert Brooks, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New conversation between Brooks and filmmaker Robert Weide
- New interview with theologian and critic Donna Bowman about Brooks's vision of the afterlife
- New program featuring excerpts from interviews conducted in 1991 with Brooks and actors Lee Grant and Rip Torn
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing




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