Rare successful blend of comedy and visual effects

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2016)

Watching the trailers for Ghostbusters back in 1984, one could be forgiven for dismissing it as a silly looking, overextended Saturday Night Live or SCTV sketch. One would have been wrong. Which is why when the film actually came out, it unexpectedly became the surprise smash of the year and a much beloved comedic classic.
The film opens when three parapsychologists (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis) are dismissed from their cushy positions at Columbia University and decide to go into business for themselves as Ghostbusters, ridding Manhattan of its problematic paranormal denizens. Their first client is classy high society concert musician Sigourney Weaver, who is dismayed to find a Sumerian deity living in her ice box. This ultimately builds into an apocalyptic battle atop her bizarre apartment complex.
Given the number of productions completely unable to meld the combination of successful comedic bits and dazzling special effects, the fact that Ghostbusters seems to flow so effortlessly and hits the mark so often is really quite astounding. People not interested in the comedy can actually enjoy the light-hearted action and effects, people not interested in the action can enjoy the comedy, and those who like both will have it made here. Plus, watching the film more than 30 years later, it manages to entertain new audiences as well as keep prior fans coming back for repeated viewings.
That is not to say that the film does not have a couple of minor nuisance issues. While the cast is by and large great, that is not to say they get equally funny material, which is a shame. Murray pretty much plays his usual persona of smug smart-ass in the lead role and he has a lot of fun material to back him up. He and Weaver have some amusing banter and chemistry, although the latter is largely forgotten for much of the middle section, before being allowed some fun comedic moments near the climax. While one must give a nod to the generosity of Aykroyd and Ramis in handing over nearly all of the funny material to Murray, I am not sure it was the wisest maneuver to give their own characters so little to do. Ramis (always an underrated comedic actor) at least doubles down on his world class deadpan as the most techno-savvy of the men, but poor Aykroyd really suffers for this sacrifice. Although no one comes off worse from this than Ernie Hudson, who is a late arrival as the last Ghostbuster, and literally has nothing to do other than be the token black guy.
Oddly, while the other three Ghostbusters are busy allowing Murray to steal the film, supporting players Rick Moranis (as Weaver's nerdy neighbor drawn into the mayhem) and Annie Potts (as the Ghostbusters' acerbic receptionist) make some really strong impressions. As do some of the bit players, with my personal favorite being whoever that old woman was who comes out of her apartment to investigate the racket made by the creature trashing Moranis' apartment and her reaction to it. Priceless! The film could have benefited from a central villain. The late arrival of a pasty William Atherton as an EPA agent out to close the GBs down just does not cut it. Largely, because Atherton essayed so many similar roles at the time and the thought of the EPA, which was a de-fanged government agency even in the 1980s (moreso today) as having any kind of clout to do much of anything is in itself a comical notion.
Director Ivan Reitman has never been as assured behind the camera as with this film. The special effects are amazing and do not forget to be comical as well. It would have been so easy to just go for broke and ride out solely on the visual effects at the climax, but the film remembers to even keep the effects comical. Who can forget the first appearance of the destroyer of the world - the hilariously deranged sight of a giant marshmallow man laying waste to Manhattan? Or, for that matter, the introduction to the legendary Slimer ghost, which culminates in Murray's memorable line.
There is very little that does not work for this film and continue to do so decades later. And one can also not underestimate the added success of Ray Parker's catchy title tune. "Who you gonna call?"