Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

raisleygordon This is nothing like any movie I've seen before, a tale about an ungracious man who goes straight to hell and gets the chance to redeem himself by selling his soul for three others. I must admit, Bill Cosby seems more like a mere tormentor than Satan. But then again, this is a family film. If this were simply a comedy, the performance would probably be different. Anyway, this guy, Max, helps three people: a singer, a biker, and a boy who's trying to get his mother to marry. I did enjoy all three of these stories. And I really enjoyed the song "Any Fool Can See". Max eventually does become a better person, but of course, this is not what Barney really intended.*** out of ****

rebeccavincent777 I enjoyed this movie - The singing in the movie is wonderful and the ending song just sticks with me. It has a good soul-searching ending. I saw this movie when I was little and couldn't wait to see it again - I still loved it 15 years later! When you look back to the movies of that time, especially all the ones with Kurt Russell - this is the same sort of quality movie. You can't expect the technology of today but its good for the time. To have the comic genius of Bill Cosby, you know it has to be decent. I keep looking on You Tube for the songs that were sung. Haven't had that luck yet. It's good to see that Good always WINS!!! Another Disney Life lesson!

firelight The really significant part of this movie has nothing to do with the players, but the producers. This is the FIRST ever PG movie released by Disney - after almost 35 years a G-only releases.I saw this movie as a kid. It had a catchy song - slightly memorable plot and ... well not much else. Not horrible or good. OK.Sadly, as Disney movies go - you'll notice on the DVD cover - no mention of Disney. Professionals admit their mistakes, are humble in their successes and remain proud about the rest. Walt Disney would have. Eisner doesn't.

SanDiego Elliott Gould's career slowed down after a string of R-rated films in the 60's and 70's...and came to a screeching halt in 1981. Disney's attempt in the eighties to modernize their films included casting Bill Cosby and Elliott Gould as The Devil and Max Devlin respectively. The plot involves Gould signing up three good souls for the Devil so as to replace his own soul from going down South. In concept, this is basically the flip side of Oh God! (George Burns and John Denver). Bill Cosby probably seemed like a hip if not fair replacement for George Burns (both being beloved stand-ups) but Elliott Gould was too much of a bad boy to be considered sympathetic in any film. The sort of sympathy evoked by John Denver in "Oh God!" Together, Cosby and Gould had no chemistry with little if any comic opportunities. Cosby was not very believable as the Devil and we could care less if Gould spent eternity in Hell. Singer Julie Budd was cast as one of the "good" souls (the in-joke here is that Julie Budd is a look-alike, sound-alike clone of Barbara Streisand and Streisand is the former Mrs. Gould. Of course kids who saw this film in 1981 didn't have a clue who she was...oh heck, most adults didn't know who she was...so why the trouble in casting Julie Budd?) To make things worse she sings one song "Rainbows and Roses" over and over and over and over and over again. Disney turns out more music than any film studio, couldn't they write a few songs for this film? Adam Rich (former "Eight Is Enough" social tragedy) and David Knell round out the trio in appearances that are a notch below a below-average Love Boat guest spot. Susan Anspach ("Montenegro") plays Adam Rich's mom and Gould's love interest and deserves the most sympathy for that alone.