Mr. Destiny
Mr. Destiny is a 1990 comedy about Larry Burrows (Jim Belushi), a simple man living in the suburbs working a menial job in a large company, along with his wife, Ellen (Linda Hamilton), and his best friend, Clip (Jon Lovitz). The pressures and misfortunes begin to weigh on Larry, and he attributes his woes to having missed a ball at a high school baseball game.
As Larry regales his troubles at a bar while waiting for a tow for his broken car, the bartender Mike (Michael Caine) mixes him a special drink. This drink turns time on its side and sends Larry to an alternate reality where not only did he hit that winning ball, but he's advanced in his company, is filthy rich, and is married to the boss' daughter (Rene Russo).
Now everything is perfect. Larry hasn't a care or fret in the world now that he's wealthy and powerful...right? Rriiiiight?
- An Aesop: By the end, it's pretty clear.
- Alternate Universe
- Corrupt Corporate Executive
- Crowning Moment of Awesome: At the end when Larry decks Pender for his underhanded dealings.
- Crowning Moment of Funny: To pick one, there's the scene where Larry (in the alternate history) decides to drive his expensive car to work with his butler in the passenger seat. It is a much shorter trip than Ludwig thought.
- "Normal Universe" Jon Lovitz stole a scene or two.
- Guardian Entity: Mike.
- Heterosexual Life Partners: Larry and Clip.
- It's a Wonderful Plot: Very similar to the classic It's a Wonderful Life; however, instead of removing the main character from existence, a single event is changed to drastically change the course of his life (and others' lives).
- The Jeeves: Ludwig.
- The Mistress
- Temporal Paradox: Of a sort. Larry is only able to avoid disaster for the company in his normal world with knowledge gained exclusively from an alternate timeline. If he'd learned to appreciate what he already had in the first place, then chances are things would not have gone south in the normal universe.