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GHOST is a
love story, a supernatural tale and a murder mystery thriller
with comedic moments mixed in, all of which are uniquely
blended together to make a superbly entertaining movie.
The script,
by Bruce Joel Ruben, was well thought out, well-paced and
well written. The story opens with the young couple, Molly
Jensen and Sam Wheat (Demi Moore & Patrick Swayze),
and their good friend, Carl Bruner (Tony), working on renovating
an old floor of a building into their dream apartment, so
that they have plenty of room for Molly to create her pottery/clay
art. It is established that Patrick and Tony are good friends
who work together at the same financial business company
in New York City. Tragedy befalls the happy couple when
Patrick is murdered by a thug during a night robbery. Willie
Lopez (Rick Aviles), plays the robber who was supposedly
after their money.
Sam's spirit
hangs around their dream apartment at first, wishing to
comfort his grieving love, but can't do so. When his murderer
comes back into the apartment, but leaves when scratched
by the cat, Sam follows Willie back to Willie's place on
the rundown side of town. Patrick decides to seek the help
of spiritualist, Oda May Brown (Whoopi), who was a charlatan,
until she gets involved with Patrick, which unblocks her
sixth sense, so she can truly help both the living and the
dead, instead of pretending to have "the gift."
When he finds
out who is really behind his murder, and why he was killed,
Sam not only resolves to protect Molly, but also wants to
get some justice for this personal disaster, with the help
of the reforming Oda May Brown.
Ruben's screenplay
also deals with spiritual issues of Life After Death, Heaven
and Hell as well, with the help of the visual effects wizards,
Larry Weiss, Doug Chiang, Tom Cranham, Richard Edlund, and
Harrison Ellenshaw, just to name a few.
The direction
and pacing of the movie, all under control of Jerry Zucker,
was well done. Whoopi Goldberg really provides a stellar
performance that integrates her enormous comedic talent
with her acting ability, which earned her the supporting
actress Oscar in 1991.
Tony Goldwyn
was excellent as the villain, showing many sides of the
feelings of his character's emotions and weaknesses.
Patrick and
Demi work very well together, convincing and touching the
audience with their individual and team performances. This
film showcases one of their best performances.
Willie Lopez
is convincing as the slimy killer, who gets the scare of
his life. He portrays absolute terror perfectly, adding
a lot to the scene with Sam, the angry ghost, who comes
for a little visit.
Vincent Schiavelli
does a great job as the emotionally unbalanced ghost on
the subway, who teaches Sam how to move objects with his
mind, an important skill to have for a ghost.
Favorite scenes
include: Patrick meets Oda May, Oda May's trip to the bank
with Patrick, Willie and Patrick's apartment chase scene,
the night scene in the dream apartment, with Demi, Patrick,
and Oda May, and the final chase & fight scene with
the fantastic ending.
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