The stage curtains open ...
"Mr. Destiny" is a modern day fairytale that arguably catches James Belushi at the height of his popularity in cinema. He had just finished "Taking Care of Business" and was about to be in "Curly Sue", both of which are great movies. In this film, however, he stars alongside other notable actors such as Michael Caine, Linda Hamilton, and Jon Lovitz in a fun, "feel good", comedy that still holds up well today.
It is Larry Burrows's 35th birthday, and as he explains it, it was the strangest day of his life. Things are off to a rough start - he isn't able to have his Wheaties for breakfast, there is no coffee when he gets to work, he gets into trouble with his boss which leads to him losing his job, and then his car breaks down ... again. All of this is going on while he is feeling melancholy about a championship baseball game he could've won when he was a youth ... the outcome of which he is convinced, would've changed his life for the better. But, when he meets Mike the bartender, he is given a chance to see what that life would've been like.
It's obvious to see that this movie drew its inspiration from the 1946 classic, "It's A Wonderful Life" - only in that film, our main character got to see what life would've been like if he hadn't been born at all. Whereas, this 1990 film explores the ever persistent question of "What if?". A question that the Nicolas Cage movie, "The Family Man", would address later on in 2000 (another fine movie). We learn that with each outcome, there is always the bad with the good.
I loved this movie. There is an undeniable warmth and charm to it's underlying story as Larry goes through a series of mishaps and sometimes dramatic events to realize that what he had wasn't so bad. In fact, it was a great life. It gave us a nice "Wizard of Oz" ending ("I missed you all so much!) that will leave you smiling and satisfied. "Mr. Destiny" is time well spent and a film I would recommend without hesitation at 8 stars out of 10.
