Ghost (1990)

Directed by Jerry Zucker. Starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn, Rick Aviles, Vincent Schiavelli, Armelia McQueen, Gail Boggs, Stephen Root. [PG-13]

Sam (Swayze) and Molly (Moore) are about as happy a couple as you’re likely to find in the movies (I doubt such a pair could ever exist in the real world, especially with that Manhattan loft), but look at the movie title—they’re not staying blissful for long. After getting murdered by a mugger, Sam “sticks around” for a while as a ghost, and as if it’s not hard enough lingering around Molly without being able to talk to her, touch her, etc., it gets even harder when he learns his death was no random accident, so he turns to a charlatan psychic (Goldberg) to warn Molly that her life is in peril (“You in danger, girl”). Surprising box office smash was a crowd-pleaser because it works solely on the emotional level and throws everything it can find into the stew pot. Trouble is, the disparate elements don’t always gel with one another, and logic and common sense are ridiculed at nearly every turn. Swayze and Moore steam up the screen in their early scenes, the bad guys and a patchwork money laundering scheme keep nudging the film into thriller territory, Goldberg supplies incongruous comic relief, the “rules” of the afterlife are vaguely hinted at but never sufficiently explored/explained—it’s a clear sign the filmmakers didn’t have faith in the audience, so they jerk ‘em around with romance, laughter, danger, fantasy, tragedy and violence so all of the lapses can be overlooked. For example, with the villain closing in fast, do you really think Sam would pause long enough to enjoy a tender “out of body” experience with Molly? It’s not boring, at least; best experienced in the moment as a manipulative but effective entertainment, then never thought about again. In a small role early in his career, Stephen Root seems to be channeling Jeff Daniels as a dubious police sergeant. Goldberg overplays it to the realm of caricature and screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin coins the oh-so-romantic declaration of, “Ditto,” and yet they both managed to win Academy Awards for their efforts.

51/100