The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Always
Romance · Fantasy · Drama · 1989
The spirit of a recently deceased expert pilot mentors a newer pilot while watching him fall in love with the girlfriend that he left behind.
Movie details
Always
“They couldn't hear him. They couldn't see him. But he was there when they needed him... Even after he was gone.”
1989 Romance · Fantasy · Drama 2h 2m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.2 / 10
Community rating
The spirit of a recently deceased expert pilot mentors a newer pilot while watching him fall in love with the girlfriend that he left behind.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Always?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
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Sarah and David are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present... and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.
A Shoe Addict's Christmas
Romance · 2018
As Christmas approaches, a department store worker whose life lacks fulfillment meets her guardian angel, who offers her a chance to change her circumstances by magically transporting her to Christmases past whenever she tries on a new pair of shoes.
Fallen
Drama · 2016
Lucinda Price is sent to a reform academy under the assumption that she has killed a boy. There, she meets two mysterious boys, Cam and Daniel, to whom she feels drawn to both. But as the love triangle unfurls, it is Daniel that Luce cannot keep herself away from, and things begin to take a darker turn when she finds out his true identity.
City of Angels
Romance · 1998
When a guardian angel – who invisibly watches over the citizens of Los Angeles – becomes captivated by a strong-willed heart surgeon, he ponders trading in his pure, otherworldly existence for a mortal life with his beloved. The couple embarks on a tender but forbidden romance spanning heaven and Earth.
A Ghost Story
Drama · 2017
Recently deceased, a white-sheeted ghost returns to his suburban home to console his bereft wife, only to find that in his spectral state he has become unstuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away.
Winter's Tale
Drama · 2014
A burglar falls for an heiress as she dies in his arms. When he learns that he has the gift of reincarnation, he sets out to save her.
The Yellow Handkerchief
Drama · 2009
A road trip through Louisiana transforms three strangers who were originally brought together by their respective feelings of loneliness.
Not Easily Broken
Drama · 2009
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
What Dreams May Come
Drama · 1998
Chris Nielsen dies to find himself in a heaven more amazing than he could have ever dreamed of. There is one thing missing: his wife. After he died, his wife Annie killed herself and went to hell. Chris decides to risk eternity in Hades for the small chance that he will be able to bring her back to heaven.
Meet Joe Black
Fantasy · 1998
Bill Parrish has it all - success, wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black, who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time, Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan?
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Steven Spielberg
Written by
Jerry Belson
Richard Dreyfuss
Pete Sandich
Holly Hunter
Dorinda Durston
John Goodman
Al Yackey
Brad Johnson
Ted Baker
Audrey Hepburn
Hap
Roberts Blossom
Dave
Keith David
Powerhouse
Court is in session
Put Always on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.