Review – Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.
May 12th 2009 16:49
RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes
PRINCIPAL CAST:
Connor Mead – Matthew McConaughey
Jenny Perotti – Jennifer Garner
Uncle Wayne – Michael Douglas
Paul – Breckin Meyer
Sandra – Lacey Chabert
Sergeant Volkom – Robert Forster
Allison Vandermeesh – Emma Stone
DIRECTOR: Mark Waters
WRITING CREDITS: Jon Lucas and Scott Moore
DISTRIBUTOR: NEW LINE CINEMA
SYNOPSIS: Celebrity Photographer Connor Mead ( McConaughey) has it all. He loves freedom, fun and women…in that order. A commited bachelor with no strigs attached he thinks nothing of breaking up with multiple women via a conference call while another waits by on the couch.
His brother is more of the romantic type. His impending marriage is this weekend and much to everyones disapproval, he has asked his brother to be the best man, an institution that Connor vehemently disapproves of.
Just when it looks like Connor may single handedly ruin the wedding, he get’s a wake up call form his late uncle Wayne the party boy ladies man who taught Connor everything he knows. Uncle Wayne has an urgent message for his protégé which he delivers via three ghosts – past, present, future who take him on a revealing journey of discovery.
Together they will discover whether Connor has a second chance to find and this time keep, the love of his life.
REVIEW:
Well at least this time we don’t see McConaughey running around throughout the film with his shirt off all the time, which may displease a few of the ladies out there, but it doesn’t improve the film much anyway. While he mighthave been a good choice for the role 5 years ago, it is just too hard to believe that he has enough talent and charisma for the position he finds himself in. If McConaughey wants to be taken in the slightest way seriously as an actor, these are not he roles to continue in.
At time the jokes are lame enough to actually elicit a small dose of laughter, but with the film so obvious in its direction, a little snappier dialogue could have been to give this film any real comedic life. The funniest scene in the whole film is when Connor attempts to pick up his brother’s Mother-in-law to be. The bartender is amazed at just how suave Connor is as a player. But is his next question which deserves the laugh. ‘Does it work on men too?” It’s amazing that it even works on women in today’s society.
Performances by Meyer and Archer are solid but with little script to work they struggle to create any empathy for their characters. In saying this Meyer’s and Jennifer Garners performances are probably the more positive given the limited storyline that they have to work with. Chabert is too over the top yet unconvincing as the Bridezilla of the moment. In fact she is so pathetic it makes you wonder what Meyer is doing marrying her at all. There is almost no redeeming aspect to her character and you actually want her to be miserable. She’s a whining bitch.
Forsters drill sargent is weak and impotent. Being a Korean War Veteran would mean that he is closing in on his 80th birthday yet somehow he has a twenty something daughter. OK Chaplin and Douglas have done it amongst others, but this time it doesn’t ring true. When his daughters perfect day is threatened it would be expected that he as an ex-vet, he would attack Connor yet for all the insults and abuse, the cutting remarks and physically buffoonery that he heaps upon the household, the Sarge does nothing besides look a little red in the face. It seems amazing that he was able to survive Korea with such a gutless attitude.
Emma Stones performance as the ghost of girlfriend past is probably the best of the entire cast. Allowed to run with her character she has taken the lead and created a fun crazy 16 year old who really brightens up what is an otherwise dull film. Michale Douglas is as usual entertaining as Uncle Wayne with his eternal glass of Jack Daniels and his unwavering chauvinistic attitude. His attempt to pick up the young Allison was amusing if not a little cringworthy, but at least funny.
Once again Google Earth (or a variant of) is used to set up the location at the beginning of the film. Other recent films have also used this technique (Knowing), and it is fast running the risk of becoming a cliché in B grade films. It might be effective once every so often, but is not necessary for positioning the action so specifically. Let the audience work out where they are. Seems to have worked for over 100 years of filmmaking
At times the film is able to garner a few laughs, but a comedy usually is judged on how many laughs it gets and the laughs in this film are few and far between.
RANKING 5/10
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SimonC
