A whole lot of Hell is experienced with A Little Bit of Heaven, an “I’ve got cancer” rom-com that fails as a comedy, drama, and spiritual exploration.  

It’s hard to believe that Kate Hudson once received an Oscar nomination. Long gone are the days of Almost Famous where Hudson’s sublime turn as rock groupie Penny Lane was met with large applause, only to be followed by one dreary rom-com after another, and another, and another…

That leads us to A Little Bit of Heaven. Granted this is not your average boy meets girl romance. Hudson stars as Marley Corbett, a free spirited advertising executive who treats life as one big party.
That is until she is diagnosed with colon cancer. Actually, let’s back up a bit. First she has a near death experience, where she finds herself in Heaven and has a conversation with God, who is portrayed by Whoppi Goldberg. To call it the most cringe worthy conversation between man and creator in the history of cinema is an understatement.

So Marley is diagnosed with colon cancer and with her chances of survival slim to none, she goes about putting her affairs in order. During this time she begins a relationship with her Mexican Jewish doctor Julian Goldberg (Gael Garcia Bernal). After all, nothing says fatal illness than a burgeoning romance.  

That Marley is unlikeable in every which way does not help draw our sympathy. As written by Gren Wells and portrayed by Kate Hudson, the annoying care free whimsy, over the top sexual posturing and temperamental immaturity which Marley inhabits will have many rallying for the cancer to quicken its pace.

Yet the torturous annoyance of this character is the least of its worries. While A Little Bit of Heaven is directed by Nicole Kasser (who directed Kevin Bacon in a career best performance in The Woodsman) and features a cast that includes Gael Garcia Bernal, Rosemary DeWitt and Peter Dinklage (the films one main grace), it falters at every turn.

As a cancer drama it is insultingly sickly sweet, as a comedy it’s lazily written and executed, and as a romance it is void of chemistry and passion.

Perhaps worst of all is its desperate attempt to tap into the burgeoning Christian demographic, doing so with a tacky take on the afterlife and an inconsistent approach to matters of religion and spirituality. Surely a character who has met God and is facing death would delve a little deeper into matters of the afterlife?  

But then again that is consistent with A Little Bit of Heaven, a half measured, tonally awkward, poorly executed example of mainstream filmmaking at its worst.