After Corinne's (Cybill Shepherd) husband is hit by a car and killed in Washington, D.C., during the Camelot years, she bears his child Miranda. His best friend Philip (Ryan O'Neal) looks after her, although he never expresses his love.

Twenty-three years later, a Yale college graduate Alex (Robert Downey, Jr.) is seeking a job at The Washington Post where Philip is a reporter. Turns out this eager beaver is none other than Corinne's husband reborn without his amnesia inoculation. When he visits her house where he once lived, memories flood his head. Alex is especially perplexed when Miranda (Mary Stuart Masterson), now a college student, tries to seduce him, and he must fend her off since she's really his daughter.

Chances Are by screenplay writers Perry and Randy Howze (Mystic Pizza) is an entertaining romantic comedy but it just doesn't have the same special magic of Heaven Can Wait, another film about reincarnation. Cybill Shepherd shines in her best performance in many a year and Ryan O'Neal comes across as a very pleasant and patient man who eventually gets exactly what he deserves. Robert Downey, Jr. is the reason Chances Are sparkles despite its predictable turns. He charms the whole household. Credit director Emile Ardolino (Dirty Dancing) for the fine ensemble performances which provide this story with its sugar and spice.