The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I've watched it many times over the years. It sticks with ya because of the fantasy romance part of it. I've watched it with many friends and now I just watched it last night with my family. They enjoyed it as well. Who couldn't love Johnny Mathis after all these years. He's got the theme song no less. There's also another song I love on that soundtrack by Peter Cetera and Cher called 'After All'. Watch it, it's very charming and enjoyable. Pay attention to what's forgotten at the beginning because it returns at the very end. See if you can figure that part out when it is just about 10-15 minutes into the movie.

"Chances Are" is one of several romantic-comedies in the late-80s/early-90s starring Robert Downey, Jr. as the romantic/comedic lead. In my opinion, this is one of his best.Along with the under-rated 1993 "Heart & Souls", these two movies bookend one another beautifully. They could almost be confused as the same movie since they look the same, have the same sense of humor and have the same leading man playing essentially the same character with minor differences. It may be why the new "Chances Are" cover has changed from the original 1989 purple and white cover. While "Chances Are" has RDJ being reincarnated to reunite with his long-lost love and her family, "Heart & Souls" has RDJ as the conduit for five ghosts to set things right with THEIR families. I believe "Chances Are" edges out the deserving "Heart & Souls" by a smidgen due to the better romantic theme and simple storyline vs. the more complicated "Heart & Souls" script due to the five ghosts' story lines.As for "Chances Are" by itself, RDJ plays a reincarnated Louie Jeffries who was married in the 1960s to Cybill Shepherd (this was her last "beauty" movie where she looked stunning). Louie dies on his first anniversary and is reincarnated as RDJ. RDJ stumbles across the adorable Mary Stuart Masterson at university and eventually crosses paths with newspaper superstar, Ryan O'Neal, and Cybill, who has kept the candle lit for her dead husband for two decades, all within the first 15 minutes of the movie. Through several twists and comedic turns, RDJ realizes who he was and tries rekindling the flames with someone old enough to be his mother - and everyone else thinks he's either a gold-digger extraordinaire and/or psychotic. The entire story reminds me of the old-time Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant comedies of yesteryear where a little bit of overacting was allowed because it put a smile on your face no matter if the story was credible or not.The movie is light, funny, charming, and just enough romance to make it a perfect date movie. The men will enjoy the humor and women will enjoy the romance. The cast looks to be genuinely enjoying themselves which makes the unlikely story easy to swallow. Robert Downey, Jr. has always been a special physical actor. He embodies the qualities of other actors into his own persona and magic comes out on-screen.This may not be perfection, but it is worth watching as a light-hearted romantic comedy. I enjoy it every time I watch it again. It's in my top-20 rom/coms of all-time not because it's a classic - but because all the pieces fit so well to make a fun movie experience. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do. 7 out of 10.

First I liked that movie. It seemed to me a nice comedy with some silly moments. The costume designer Albert Wolsky did his best!!! The same as wonderful set decorator Robert R. Benton - this man really had a very good taste!!! But the script writers disappointed me extremely. The best ending would be the scene on the ladder, but instead of it, they decided that the father and his daughter should be together. Don't like the ending. The father becomes boyfriend of his own daughter and his ex-wife knows about it and finds it alright. It would be OK, if the scriptwriters would for example say that now there is a different soul in the body, but they did not, they only deprived him of memories. The actors were good, they were really funny. Cybill Shepherd was charming, Robert Downey Jr. was very funny in the dancing scene : )))... But some of the moments spoil even the impression of good acting. For example, Corinne Jeffries, played by Cybill Shepherd after the death of her husband was waiting for him 23 years (it's a long time!), she was true to him, she loved nobody but him, and when she met him and was just about making love to him, after a scene with her friend Philip Train (Ryan O'Neal), she very easily betrayed the man she was longing for so many years!!! It would be a good movie, if not the ending and some missed human psychology.

CHANCES ARE is a charming romantic fantasy about a woman (Cybill Shepherd) whose husband (Christopher McDonald) is killed shortly after learning she is pregnant. We then see the husband in heaven letting the powers that be know that he was taken too soon and that his wife needs him. He is told he can return to earth but not as himself. Flashforward 19 years where we see Shepherd's daughter (Mary Stuart Masterson) preparing to graduate from college and encountering a young man (Robert Downey Jr.)who, it turns out is the reincarnation of her father. The film is a little on the predictable side...the story goes all the places you expect it to, but it is so charmingly played by an energetic cast (especially Shepherd and Downey) that you can't help but get wrapped up in the fun. Shepherd has rarely been seen on screen to better advantage and she and Downey are backed by a talented group of character actors in supporting roles. A lovely and charming fantasy that will engulf and enchant you.