Ryan O'Neal, Robert Downey Jr. & Cybill Shepherd in Chances Are (1989)

Last in our Ryan O'Neal series is this 1989 comedy about death and rebirth, reincarnation and second chances. Louie Jeffries is killed in 1964, leaving a widow, Corinne (Shepherd) and daughter, Miranda (Mary-Stewart Masterson). Louie bypasses St. Peter and bolts back to earth to be reborn without having his past life memories extracted from him. Corinne never remarries and leans heavily on Louie's best friend Phillip Train (O'Neal) to help raise Miranda. When Miranda comes home from school and brings new boyfriend, Alex Finch (Downey Jr.) the latter realizes he's Louie reincarnated and immediately transfers his affections from daughter to mother, who is very perplexed until he convinces her of his true identity. A honeymoon period occurs between them, which hurts and confuses Miranda and Phillip who harbors feelings for Corinne. Will they renew their relationship and cause a rift with the ones they love?

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This film was a hit when it was released, but has fallen into obscurity since. The action is frenetic, but the performances are charming and the overall effect quite tender. Robert Downey Jr. is very effective as a man who suddenly finds himself at a life-altering crossroads.

Chances Are is available on DVD and is well remembered by fans, but has quite a low profile among films of the era with infrequent television airings. The trailer for the VHS tape is above, uploaded to YouTube by OldSchoolTrailers.

Obscurity factor: 2 (still remembered by fans, somewhat forgotten by the general public, on DVD)