14/03/2024 - Radu Potcoavă delivers a surreal romantic comedy offering a rushed reflection on the consequences of our choices and an overly sentimental ending

You never forget your first love, as the saying goes, and that’s probably why every single second somewhere in the world a marriage falls apart. But strangely, it was death which inspired Romanian director Radu Potcoavă’s foray into the sentimental mechanism which neuroscientists associate with the dopamine reward system, namely the sudden passing of one his father’s friends following a heart attack. Before directing Good Guys Go to Heaven, which is competing in the Bergamo Film Meeting and hitting Romanian cinemas on 22 March, courtesy of Forum Film, Potcoavă had already signed his name to hit comedy The In-Laws (the second biggest Romanian movie in 2014 in terms of audience numbers) and the coming-of-age drama Summer's Over. In Good Guys Go to Heaven, he plays the card of surreal romantic comedy.

After a fatal car accident in Bucharest, Dan (the charismatic Bogdan Dumitrache) finds himself on the splendid sands of a golden beach (the film’s luminous photography is by Andrei Butică) alongside a campervan decked out with all kinds of comforts. Mysterious character Petru (Sergiu Costache), who has accompanied him into what we assume to be Purgatory, explains that he has 40 days to think about the actions he’s carried out during his lifetime, to potentially repent and to stand in the presence of the Almighty with a ticket to Paradise ready and waiting in his pocket. It all depends on him. In addition to ice-cold beer and cigarettes, Dan is given a bonus gift: a tablet which allows him to visit anyone he wants to on Earth just by typing their name. First, he meets his friend Cipi (Silviu Pintileasa), with whom he smokes a little marijuana, then he briefly sees his wife Ada (Florentina Tilea). But Dan hasn’t come to terms with another “guest” on that particular beach: Laura (Cosmina Stratan), the girl he was in love with at high school and who died on account of a tumour. The two look back on all the sliding doors which drove them apart forever. Dan declares himself an idiot and a coward, admitting to being the only person responsible for the car accident which killed him (I put the left indicator on but turned right”). Then he sees his wife for the last time, asking her to take good care of their 13-year-old daughter Zoe, in the only scene in the film which packs any real emotional punch. He’s even allowed to meet his elderly parents (they’re already in Paradise) who give him their “blessing”.

From this point onwards, the film loses itself in a saccharine series of “I’ve always loved you”s, “I’ve never loved my wife”s, replete with evocative sunsets on the beach, languid looks in the car, lovemaking in the campervan and splashing around and laughing in crystal clear waters. It results in a real lack of continuity, given the subtle irony which initially reigned over this film, made brilliant by Catalin Cristutiu’s nervy and “apprehensive” editing. Any pretence of nigh-on metaphysical reflection on the consequences of our choices vanishes in favour of a distinctly male-flavoured form of romantic entertainment. The ending – featuring a cameo by popular actor Șerban Pavlu – directs the film back towards the puerile, immature and narcissistic dream of an Eden where men are platonically (in the sense of Plato’s Symposium) reunited with the ideal woman, under the obliging eye of an ambiguous (and male) god. The director himself admitted he was surprised by the film’s selection at the historically picky Bergamo FM, because he considered Good Guys Go to Heaven to be mainstream rather than a festival film. But the selectors chose Good Guys Go to Heaven for exactly what it is: a paradisiacal comedy for a wider audience. Amen.

Good Guys Go to Heaven is produced by Wearebasca together with Chainsaw Europe. The Open Reel are managing international sales.

(Translated from Italian)