GHOST is a love story, a supernatural
tale and a murder mystery thriller, with comedic moments mixed
in, all which are uniquely blended together to make a superbly
entertaining movie.
The script, by Bruce Joel Ruben,
was well thought out, well-paced, and well written. The story
opens with the young couple, Molly Jensen and Sam Wheat (Demi
Moore & Patrick Swayze), and their good friend, Carl Bruner
(Tony), working on renovating an old floor of a building into
their dream apartment, that has plenty of room for pottery/clay
sculptor, Demi, to create her art. It is established that Patrick
and Tony are good friends who work together at the same financial
business company in New York City. Tragedy befalls the happy couple
when Patrick is murdered during a night robbery by a thug, Willie
Lopez (Rick Aviles), who was supposedly after money.
Sam's spirit hangs around their
dream apartment at first, wishing to comfort his grieving love,
but can't do so. When his murderer comes back into the apartment,
but leaves when scratched by the cat, Sam follows Willie back
to Willie's place on the rundown side of town. Patrick decides
to seek the help of spiritualist, Oda May Brown (Whoopi), who
was a charlatan, until she gets involved with Patrick, which unblocks
her sixth sense, so she can truly help both the living and the
dead, instead of pretending to have "the gift."
When he finds out who is really
behind his murder, and why he was killed, Sam not only resolves
to protect Molly, but also get some justice for this personal
disaster, with the help of the reforming Oda May Brown.
Ruben's screenplay also deals
with spiritual issues of Life After Death, Heaven and Hell as
well, with the help of the visual effects wizards, Larry Weiss,
Doug Chiang, Tom Cranham, Richard Edlund, and Harrison Ellenshaw,
just to name a few.
The direction and pacing of the
movie, all under control of Jerry Zucker, was well done. Whoopi
Goldberg really provides a stellar performance that integrates
her enormous comedic talent with her acting ability, which earned
her a supporting actress Oscar; 1991.
Tony Goldwyn was excellent as
the villain, showing many sides of the feelings of his character's
emotions and weaknesses.
Patrick and Demi worked very
well together, convincing and touching the audience with their
individual and team performances. This film showcases one of their
best performances.
Willie Lopez is convincing as
the slimy killer, who gets the scare of his life. He portrays
absolute terror perfectly, adding a lot to the scene with Sam,
the angry ghost, who comes for a little visit.
Vincent Schiavelli does a great
job as the emotionally unbalanced ghost on the subway, who teaches
Sam how to move objects with his mind, an important skill to have
for a ghost.
Favorite scenes include: Patrick
meets Oda May, Oda May's trip to the bank with Patrick, Willie
and Patrick's apartment chase scene, the night scene in the dream
apartment, with Demi, Patrick, and Oda May, and the final chase
& fight scene with the fantastic ending.
|