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| Greg Kinnear in Dear God. |
After the catastrophic failure of his kinky softcore sex comedy Exit to Eden (1994), director Garry Marshall decided to do something completely different with his follow-up film, Dear God (1996). This time around, he made a squeaky clean, heartwarming holiday film in the tradition of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and George Seaton's Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Surely, this would get him back on the right track career-wise and allow him to reconnect with the audiences who had loved Happy Days (1974-84) and Pretty Woman (1990). For extra insurance, he cast up-and-coming actor Greg Kinnear, who had already proved extremely popular with viewers across America, in the lead role of Tom Turner, a con man with a heart of gold.
How surprised and frustrated Garry must have been when Dear God bombed with critics and audiences nearly as badly as Exit to Eden had two years previously. The film was box office poison and received withering reviews to boot. It quickly disappeared from theaters and didn't make much of a splash on home video or cable either. Garry had missed again.
But that was nearly 30 years ago. A lot can happen in 30 years. Maybe Dear God has aged like fine wine. Or maybe it's somehow gotten even worse since the Clinton years. This week on These Days Are Ours: A Happy Days Podcast, we find out by doing a thorough review of this forgotten film. If I were you, I'd click that play button.
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