Friday, May 1, 2009

Movie review: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

By Alex Bentley

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, the new romantic comedy starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner, is a perfect example of how a film can be utterly predictable, cliché-ridden, and cheap-looking, and still reach a low bar of success through the charms of its actors and a few emotional connections placed at just the right moments.

And, really, what could be more predictable than yet another re-imagining of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol? Of course, this one ousts the whole Christmas theme and replaces it with the exploits of Connor Mead (McConaughey), a fashion photographer who, shall we say, takes advantage of his easy access to supermodels. Okay, he has sex with virtually every one that crosses his path (no exaggeration: a dream sequence later in the film shows that Wilt Chamberlain would have nothing on Connor).

"I swear, the cake was like that when I got here!"

When Connor goes to attend the wedding of his brother, Paul (Breckin Meyer), he's met with the presence of Jenny (Garner), his lifelong friend and (of course) one-time girlfriend. After extolling the virtues of the single, sex-filled lifestyle at Paul's rehearsal dinner, Connor is suddenly besieged by the ghost of his late Uncle Wayne (Michael Douglas), who was his hero in philandering. Connor is chagrined, however, when Wayne tells him that the poly-amorous life is not all it's cracked up to be, and that he will soon be visited by three ghosts to show him why.

Cue visits to all the big love/lust moments of his life, most of which curiously revolve around Jenny. None of the revelations are the least bit surprising, since the framework of the film could have been laid down by a 10-year-old. And yet... and yet there is a lot of fun to be had watching McConaughey and Garner circle around each other for 90 minutes. Maybe it's the fact that the setup of the film is not the normal cinematic wooing process, or maybe it's that the role is right in McConaughey's wheelhouse. Whatever it is, the film's various sins (chief among them being that nearly every woman not named Jennifer Garner throwing herself at Connor's feet) are muted and not nearly as detestable as they should be.

Either Connor's confused by his future or an alien attack is imminent.

Sure, you also have to forgive multiple instances of McConaughey's patented "whinny" and the fact that the film kind of cheats when it comes to the ghosts who show him the error of his ways. But these mostly fall way because, as noted, McConaughey couldn't have picked a better role for himself, as the idea of him being a suave and cocky guy who could sleep with anyone he meets is pretty much his real-life persona (even if his shirt stays on throughout the film, to the chagrin of some, I'm sure). Garner is a worthy foil, never backing down in her scenes with McConaughey, and giving the film the emotional oomph it needs. Douglas is surprisingly funny as Uncle Wayne, never making his character more of a ham than he needed to be.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is far from a great romantic comedy, but it accomplishes a lot more than it should with its warmed-over plot. McConaughey may still have some life in his tank yet.

Related stories

• Movie review: Disney’s A Christmas Carol (Nov. 6, 2009)

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• Arts > Movies / Film > Mainstream Movies