Curtain Call
James Spader looks like the hardest-working man in show business as the busy,  comic-romantic lead in this enjoyable "film blanc" (a tongue-in-cheek phrase  coined by film critic Andrew Sarris to describe that genre of movies  featuring ghosts in love). Spader plays Stevenson Lowe, heir to a  highly respected publishing firm that has recently been purchased by a giant  media corporation. Though Stevenson has deluded himself into believing the  new owners will allow him to maintain creative control over his family's book  line, he soon discovers the unpleasant truth. A ludicrous executive (funny  work by Buck Henry) is pushing no-brainer tomes about cats and the female fat  cell into the spring list, pushing poor Stevenson into the margins of his own  company.His helplessness has a way of resonating with other mushy areas of his life.  Having purchased an expensive townhouse for himself alone, Stevenson severely  disappoints his long-suffering girlfriend (Polly Walker in a rare comic  outing), who thought they were going to get married. The hero's dithering on  this sore subject gets more complicated when he discovers a pair of Jazz Age  ghosts (Michael Caine and Maggie Smith) occupying his new home and dispensing  unwanted advice about love. Directed by Peter Yates (Breaking Away),Curtain Callhas a low-key charm kept alive by the considerable skills  of its admirable cast (including Sam Shepard, Marcia Gay Harden, and Frank  Whaley), while a handful of memorable, screwball scenes deliver solid sight gags. Not a masterpiece, but a real treat.--Tom Keogh