Defending Your Life (Criterion Collection)

Cast View all

	Albert Brooks	Daniel Miller
	Meryl Streep	Julia
	Rip Torn	Bob Diamond
	Lee Grant	Lena Foster
	Julie Cobb	Tram Guide
	Peter Schuck	Stan
	Time Winters	Porter
	Gary Beach	Car Salesman
	Sharlie Stuart	Susan
	Beth Black	Soap Opera Woman
	Clayton Norcross	Soap Opera Man
	Jim McKrell	Game Show Moderator
	Wil Albert	Game Show Contestant
	Sage Allen	Game Show Contestant
	Mary Pat Gleason	Waitress
	Maxine Elliott Hicks	Elderly Woman on Tram
	Marilyn Rockafellow	Helen
	Roger Behr	Comedian
	Michael Durrell	Agency Head
	Art Frankel	Arthur
	Ernie Brown	Ernie
	George Wallace	Daniel's Judge
	Lillian Lehman	Daniel's Judge
	Raffi Di Blasio	Daniel as a Boy
	Kristopher Kent Hill	Bully

Crew View all

Director	Albert Brooks
Writer	Albert Brooks
Producer	Robert Grand, Michael Grillo, Herb Nanas
Musician	Michael Gore
Photography	Allen Daviau

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Notes

Father's Day 2021 gift from Beth

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.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
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
PLUS: An essay by filmmaker Ari Aster

New cover based on an original theatrical poster

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