It's autumn sunrise.......

Rating: 7/10 (12 October 2015)

Sam Wheat is a banker (that's not rhyming slang), Molly Jensen is an artist, and the two are madly in love, thanks to Unchained Melody.
However, when Sam is murdered, instigated by friend and corrupt business partner Carl Bruner over a shady business deal, he is left to roam the earth as a powerless spirit.
When he learns of Carl's betrayal, Sam must seek the help of psychic Oda Mae Brown to set things right and protect Molly from Carl and his cat loving henchman, Willie Lopez.....
It's true, the more times you watch this film, the more schmaltzy it becomes, but there is something really raw and powerful in what is otherwise a poor mans Truly Madly Deeply, with added murder.
The narrative and story are simple, Sam must find a way to protect his soul mate, so he seeks help from the weird looking like on the subway, and Whooping Goldberg, easily the best thing about the film.
But what makes the film rise above its smoochy, saccharine origins is the fact that it can be really dark and visceral at times, which makes it the fondly remembered movie it is. One minute you are laughing at Goldbergs fake seances and truly wonderful chemistry with Swayze, the next you are in the middle of a very unsettling dream sequence/vision Sam has when he is shot.
So even though the film does lay on the romance thickly, and there are some genuinely funny scenes involving Goldberg, it's the visceral, unsettling moments that stick with you. You'll always remember Willie and Carl being taken away, rather then the guy on the operating table, because it grabs you, and the scene itself feels cold and murky, just like where they are heading.
So all in all, it's romantic Swayze turned up to ten, but just as the film gets that little to tender, that little too schmaltzy, the makers give you a jolt that snaps you out of it.
Which saves it, more than you'd know.
And Sam would never say that.