The Dead Vs. The Deadpan

Rating: 8/10 (20 July 2010)

What happens when a guy finds himself losing the woman he loves to a bloodthirsty Sumerian god? Can a trio of determined men capture a Class-5 full-roaming vapor without destroying a hotel ballroom? Is "crossing the streams" dangerous to one's health?
If you are like millions of other people, you already know the answers to these and other questions. A giant comedy smash in its day, "Ghostbusters" is still a lot of fun, and perhaps the most successful cinematic showcase for veterans of "Saturday Night Live" and "SCTV." While not as hilarious or as scary as its reputation suggests, "Ghostbusters" is clever and amusing and goes by fast.
The star of the show, Bill Murray, plays Peter Venkman, a university professor we meet playing a shady psychic shell game in order to score some time with a young lovely. When forced to relocate, he and his friends Egon (Harold Ramis) and Ray (Dan Aykroyd) set to work as freelance spook catchers, fortunately for them just as the the Big Apple is about to be swallowed by the gates of hell.
"We could really bust some heads, in a spiritual sense of course," Ray notes.
The casting really brings out the best in the movie. Sigourney Weaver as the imperiled love interest Dana brings the right snark to her role, comparing Venkman to a "game show host" with a withering stare as he attempts (hilariously) to put the moves on her. Rick Moranis, like Ramis from "SCTV", is a nerdy accountant who chases after Dana like a dog, then as a dog. He throws tax-deductible parties, then brags to his guests: "I'm giving this whole thing as a promotional expense...that's why I invited clients instead of friends." And then there's William Atherton's nasty EPA official Walter Peck, sneering wonderfully at it all.
As a fan of the old "Saturday Night Live", I guess I wanted more chemistry from the classic SNL cornerstones here, Murray and Aykroyd. Instead, Aykroyd doesn't do much to establish himself. Even though he concepted and wrote the film, his character is even less interesting than the fourth Ghostbuster, recruit Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), who is a bit of a bystander in this film though he does have one great line. "If someone asks you if you're a god, you say 'Yes'!"
Murray of course gets all the best lines, delivered in his signature deadpan style, like "Back off, man, I'm a scientist" or "Generally you don't see that kind of behavior in a major appliance." Director Ivan Reitman leaves Murray plenty of space in-between the special effects to establish a "Ghostbusters" voice; even if to me it seems at times more of a collection of catch phrases, I see Reitman giving the film enough shape and subtlety to make those catch phrases click.
Yes, the effects are dated, and there are odd moments that don't connect (Ray being seduced out of nowhere by a ghost, for example). Still, "Ghostbusters" is a smart genre-bender with the ability to fly through generations like that Slimer ghost goes through walls.