Touching

Rating: Null/10 (4 December 2007)

So many things about this movie are- objectively speaking-
preposterous, unsubtle, cringey, laughable or simply bad.
That said, none of this at the end of the day matters much: Ghost is a classic romance, with good leads, a highly watchable storyline, plenty of charm and wit and a climax that it seems literally to be physiologically impossible not to cry buckets over.
The reason for this last attribute is that Ghost of course taps into many very fragile parts of the emotions that reside in nearly all of us- it is hard to sneer at a film that so earnestly carries on its' sleeve such motifs as the joy and depth of love, the inevitable fear and mystery of mortality, and the fathomless pain of loss. Such themes have seldom been dealt with in Hollywood movies in quite so brazen and nothing-if-not-sincere a manner. This is perhaps a part of Ghost's magic and endurance.
There are not many movies that tackle the "otherside" of death as Ghost does; and of course the reason is that nothing could be harder to do satisfyingly, convincingly.
Ghost on many levels does indeed fail to do so itself; the script is duff, many of the concepts it suggests are crude and ridiculous; and yet such objection seems somehow churlish given the undeniable ballsiness-if nothing else- of the movie's subject matter. Few movies- hokey or perfect- can lay claim to offering such emotional solace to people's real life experiences of bereavement than Ghost, no matter how much the lines and the plot developments might grate upon your nerves. In one of the movie's most moving scenes, the viewer is able to vicariously experience that tantalising, painful wish-fulfilment that is longed for by any one who has ever suffered the death of a loved one; that final embrace that so many are denied.
It is ultimately this sincerity and universality that- just about- carries the film along from start to finish; helped of course by Whoopi Goldberg's turn as an apparently fraudulent psychic- Sam's blustering, clucking, reluctant key to communicating with Molly. The role famously earned Goldberg an Academy Award and remains a sparkling gem of a performance. Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze never betray the film or highlight its' weaker points in their respective performances, and the two share a good level of chemistry together, more particularly impressive given the amount of scenes they spend unable to interact.
Good movie. Don't forget your Kleenex.