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James Block, a man with
a heart condition--and a criminal past--gets a second chance after a
near-death experience. He suffers a heart attack after marrying his
girlfriend, Rachel to prevent her from testifying against him. While
"dead," James sees Andrew walking toward the "light,"
though
he himself moves in the opposite direction. Realizing he must change
his ways, James initiates a campaign of good works. Tess and Monica
are assigned as nurses at the hospital where he is fulfilling
community-service he received for a crime. Neither angel is impressed,
however, with his apparent change of heart--especially when they
realize he records his good deeds in a notebook. James finds a kindred
spirit in Amy Ann McCoy, a teenage Elvis Presley fan with cystic
fibrosis. A bit of a con artist herself, the girl is unaware how
serious her illness is. Meanwhile, James is haunted by a recurring
nightmare of his near-death experience, finally realizing he was
headed toward a roiling chasm of unending darkness. He again
encounters Andrew, who admonishes, "Even if every one of your
good deeds was a step to heaven, it would never reach high
enough." Unnerved, James destroys his notebook and plans to skip
Amy Ann's birthday party. Tess confronts him, telling him the teenager
will soon die, and only her faith has sustained her all these years.
James rails at God, but Tess tells him not to blame God for the mess
he has made of his life. As Rachel starts to apologize to Amy Ann for
James' absence, he arrives. But he puts a damper on the proceedings by
telling the birthday girl how serious her illness is and that God
doesn't care. A furious Tess orders him to leave the room, and Rachel
tells her husband she hopes never to see him again. Seeing Andrew in
the corridor, James realizes he is the Angel of Death and attacks him.
But Andrew avoids the human's assaults, until Monica appears holding
the notebook he had earlier destroyed. She tells him that hell is
separation from God, and if he was on his way there, he was sending
himself. Andrew then clarifies his earlier statement to James: no one
can earn their way to heaven because only God's mercy can lift a soul
up and take him there. Repenting of his misdeeds, James prays and
turns his life over to God. Overhearing her husband, Rachel realizes
her own prayers have been answered. James returns to a dying Amy Ann,
reassuring her that God exists and to take His hand and walk toward
the light. The teenager dies as Elvis' song, "Precious
Lord" plays on a turntable.
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