A slightly insubstantial but entertaining ghost story

Rating: 8/10 (2 April 2007)

Ghost was the No 1 box office smash hit of 1990. It made household names of rising stars Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore and netted an Oscar for the always excellent Whoopi Goldberg. Its easy to see where its appeal lies. A heart wrenching love story. A compelling murder plot. Moments of real comedy. And fantastic special effects. All the components needed to turn Ghost into a crowd pleaser. Not everything about the film always rings true. And some of the revelations about the afterlife are disappointingly clumsy and clichéd, but for the most part Ghost is a film that's remarkably assured, and delivers on what it promises.
Swayze is the yuppie investment councillor Sam Wheat who enjoys a blossoming relationship with Moore's artist Molly Jensen. It all goes sour when Sam is shot and killed by a mugger. But remains on Earth as a spirit. Unable to be seen or heard by anyone. And incapable of physical human contact. But when it turns out his death was all part of an elaborate setup, Sam enlists the aid of charlatan psychic Oda Mae Brown (Goldberg, gloriously entertaining) to warn Molly that the killers are after her now.
Although a lot of people were drawn to Ghost for its romantic elements (the pottery scene is now infamous) what I found more entertaining about Ghost was the logical approach it takes in weaving a story from a spirit's POV. When Sam becomes a ghost, it takes a while for him to learn the rules. He learns right away that he can't touch anything. But it takes longer for him to learn that its not impossible for him to regain the ability to move objects. He discovers this when he meets a more seasoned ghost on a subway train (the late Vincent Schiavelli).
Ghost is actually a film that draws up some fascinating dimensions concerning the spirit world. Its when it directly addresses the aspects of Heaven and Hell that it slips up but I'll go into that later. In this film, there are many people who have died but haven't moved on. There's an almost spiritual community living among us. Sam is a relative newcomer, and is taught by that subway ghost to channel his emotions into manipulating physical objects. For the simple reason that he's not physical anymore.
We also learn about the limitations of being a ghost. It is possible for spirits to communicate with the living by possessing them. We get to see this twice. And it happens to Whoopi twice. The first is played strictly for laughs after Oda Mae learns her charlatan psychic powers are for real. Ghosts have flocked to her to be heard once more. One ghost gets impatient with her and possesses her body. When he's forced out, it saps his energy for a short time. The second instance is more poignant when Oda Mae allows Sam to use her body to caress Molly (although the film shows Sam doing this, and not Oda Mae).
Another thing of interest is the surprisingly smart screenplay written by Bruce Joel Rubin. Not only does he handle the spiritual side of Ghost with consummate skill, but he also crafts a credible thriller, and keeps things ticking along nicely, balancing the drama with comedy whenever things threaten to get too maudlin. Jerry Zucker's direction is also worthy of mention because its so confident and assured. Surprising considering he comes from a background of screwball comedy.
As for the performances, they're a little uneven. Although Patrick Swayze is not one of the greatest actors to grace the Earth, he's quite well suited to the part of a ghost. In fact this is probably his best role. But its in his scenes with Whoopi where he really shines. They make quite an amusing double act. There's one inspired scene where he has to talk her through closing an account and half the time she misinterprets his instructions. Or when he (eventually) convinces her to hand over a cheque for 4 million dollars to some nuns (a bit prophetic for what was to come for Whoopi!).
Demi Moore is typically flat as a pancake and spends half the time crying her way through the movie. In the supporting cast, Tony Goldwyn does well as the sleazy best friend who set Sam up for drug money. And Vincent Schiavelli gives an interestingly live-wire performance as the ghost who helps Sam get in touch with his inner self.
But its Whoopi Goldberg who steals the film out from everyone else. She's downright hilarious from the moment she appears. She's clearly having a ball as the fake medium who's more surprised than anyone when she finds her powers are genuine. She gets all the best lines and she knows it. And she has greater chemistry with Swayze than he does with Moore. She deserved to walk away with the Oscar. Sometimes they do get it right!
The special effects have lost a little of their sparkle over the years but hold up well. The images of Sam moving through a human body and seeing blood and inner workings is striking. Or seeing him walk through doors and leap from train to train is memorable. But the scenes of the light of Heaven and demons from Hell are cheesy as anything, and recalls some of the limited imagination of Flatliners, made the same year.
But Ghost still commands a certain attention and is a great deal of fun. It sometimes gets a bit too mushy for its own good, and wicked people punished for being bad and good people rewarded for being good is too simplistic. But thanks to a slick narrative, good plot twists and great performances (and in that I mean Whoopi!) Ghost is a film that flies high.