Midway to Heaven is a 2011 romantic comedy film based on the Dean Hughes novel of the same name.
The film is about Edmund "Ned" Stevens (Curt Doussett) coming to terms with the death of his wife Kate (Melanie Nelson) and starts dating his jogger buddy Carol Holly (Michelle Money). At the same time, his daughter Liz (Brittany Peltier) starts to fall in love with David Markham (Kirby Heyborne).
The film has the following tropes:
- Angels Pose: Kate, Liz, and Ned assume this pose in the home video.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Liz and Dave kiss in the rain after Liz reconciles their relationship with her father.
- Creator Cameo: Dean Hughes, who wrote the original novel, appears as a patron at the gas station.
- Cue the Rain: It starts raining after Liz starts to distance herself from her father.
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Ned hates Liz's boyfriend Dave, though it doesn't appear to be intentional on Liz's part.
- Dead Person Conversation: Ned periodically talks with his deceased wife Kate during the movie. It's clear that he can see her ghost, but others can't.
- Falling-in-Love Montage: Ned and Carol get one when they start dating seriously. It's accompanied by the song "Falling" by Secrets in Stereo and is also about letting go (of Ned's ex-wife).
- Lock-and-Load Montage: Ned changes into various suits when he's preparing for a date with Carol.
- Lost Love Montage: Ned gets one when he watches a home video of Kate, accompanied by the Hilary Weeks song "Just Let Me Cry".
- Mistaken from Behind: Ned thinks he's caught Liz and David drinking at a bar, but it turns out to be two people who just look like them from behind.
- Second Love: Ned starts dating again and has to let go of his former wife.
- Shipper on Deck: Liz signs her father up on a dating website and encourages him to start dating again.
- Shout-Out:
- Ned's nightstand has the book Soldier Boys by Dean Hughes.
- Ned and Liz watch Sleepless in Seattle.
- Title Drop: Kate says the town is called Midway because it was located between two settlements, but local residents say "it's because it's Midway to Heaven."
