Ghost Of A Chance

I noticed Ghost was on, so I watched it. Don't think I'd seen it since it opened, and I wasn't that impressed then, so I figured I'd give it another shot.

The 1990 film was a surprise blockbuster. None of the leads--Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore or Whoopi Goldberg--were huge stars (a bunch of major names turned down their parts) and director Jerry Zucker was better known for Airplane!-type movies. But with a budget of only $22 million, it grossed over half a billion worldwide. So I figured there must be something that attracted so many.

What I saw was interesting. Not great, but interesting. The movie deftly combines four genres--thriller, supernatural tale, romance and comedy. The story, if you've forgotten, is about Sam and Molly. They're in love, but Sam is killed. He can now see what's happening but can't make his presence known. He finds Oda Mae Brown, a fraudulent medium, who can actually hear him. He uses her to contact Molly. Sam discovers a friend and business partner is behind his death. Molly gets involved and Sam has to save her.

As a thriller, it's passable, nothing special. But the supernatural element sets the plot apart. It helps that screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin, who won an Oscar, worked out a decent scheme to explain what ghosts can and can't do. As Sam learns more, he's able to do more to help Molly. (By the end, in fact, he's so powerful the story has to artificially weaken him to make it a fair fight.)

Ultimately, I think it's the romance that made this movie huge. It doesn't do much for me, but it brought in an awful lot of women. Before Sam's death, we have the iconic pottery scene, which retroactively made "Unchained Melody" one of the top oldies of all time.



Another big romantic moment is near the end, when Sam takes over Oda Mae's body so he can embrace Molly again.

Then there's the comedy, which is surprisingly good. Whoopi Goldberg deserved her Oscar. Oda Mae Brown is the most imaginative creation of the film, and I don't think it would work without her--the film would just be maudlin and morose.

Instead, Rubin and Zucker are able to take a good comic premise and run with it. Oda Mae has always pretended she can speak to the dead, and it turns out to be an unpleasant revelation when she finds out it's true. For much of the movie, Sam and Oda Mae are a comedy team--he speaks to her and she speaks to the world, which looks pretty odd to the world. If I had to recommend the film for anything, it would be for this aspect. In fact, when you get down to it, the central couple in the film are Sam and Oda Mae. Molly is a thankless roll--once Sam dies, all she does is look worried and cry a lot.