Left me in high Spirits! (Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past (DVD))

Member Name: mummy2harry

Product:	Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past (DVD)
Date:	03/11/09 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny, great use of special effects, good cast

Disadvantages: Nothing major

Connor Mead thinks that he has it all - he's got a great job as a fashion photographer, he can seemingly get any woman he wants, and he's single to boot. It doesn't matter to him that he hasn't got many friends or that he isn't an especially nice person. When he gets an invite to brother Paul's wedding to fiancée Sandra, he goes along but is soon wreaking havoc. His ex-lover Jenny is there as a bridesmaid and stirs up some unwelcome feelings in Connor. But oddly, his dead uncle Wayne appears to him in a vision telling him he's going to be shown the error of his ways by ghosts of girlfriends past. Connor has to visit his past relationship to see where he went wrong, and he comes to some surprising revelations when it's all over. Will Connor change or is that one step too far?

I am a huge Jen Garner fan, so she is the reason I got this one from the library if I'm totally honest with you! I've loved her work since the fab TV show Alias, and now she's turned her hand to films, I tend to watch everything, she's in - good or bad. I also happen to quite like Matthew McConaughey too (what girl doesn't?!) so this sounded like a fab film for me. I love rom-coms, love the cast and the plot sounded funny too so I was realy looking forward to this. My other half wasn't too keen but I told him I was putting it on anyway, and luckily he ended up loving it too!

The story is basically a reworking of Charles Dickens' famous story A Christmas Carol albeit updated a bit to allow for comedic references and to apply to the world of dating rather than old Mr Scrooge! It's billed as a romantic comedy and I think this tag fits it perfectly. There's lot of laugh out loud moments, some more emotional parts and a good enough story to string the whole thing together. It's set in a wonderfully large mansion house in the winter time, and the snowy scene makes a somewhat more magical setting for the movie. The director has done a good job of bringing all the elements of the film together and it is a very good watch.

Matthew McConaughey is back doing what he does best in this film. His favourite role of mine is still Ben in "How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days" but he goes back to his rom-com roots in this. Connor is actually a pretty horrible person, he uses women as much as he wants and he doesn't care when he hurts people's feelings. It kind of makes it hard to feel sorry for him in a way and you do wonder why Jenny is in love with such a pig! McConaughey is brilliant at his comedy performances and has great comedic timing which works really well in this movie. He has a good chemistry with Jennifer Garner who plays love interest Jenny, but again Connor is so unlikeable you wonder why she is interested!

Garner is fabulous in this film, and is great in the role of Jenny. She works well with McConaughey, and I think she's definitely the best actor in her role. She adds a real vunerability to the character and portrays Jenny's whole spectrum of emotion from sarcasm to incredible sadness in the one scene in the film which is actually very sad. She holds her own against McConaughey in the comedy stakes, and I think she was just fab, I'm pleased she was cast in this movie. Michael Douglas makes a small appearance as Connor's dead uncle Wayne, and is very, very funny! He and Matt are great together on-screen and Douglas shows the youngsters how its done! He embraces the role of the dotty old man, and is very funny!

The one relationship that is actually incredibly sweet in the film is that of Connor and his brother Paul and I wish they had made more of this in the film. There were a few genuinely touching scenes between McConaughey and Meyer, and this is definitely the nicest relationship in the film. The end is quite predictable but you don't watch this sort of film and not expect to guess what's going to happen as it progresses. The special effects of the ghosts and related events are very well done, and Emma Stone as the first ghost Allison was brilliant! The effects are pretty seamless and the soundtrack captures the mood of the film very well too.

This is a very sweet and funny rom-com that I can highly recommend for a light evenings entertainment. If there was one thing I have to moan about, its that Connor isn't a nice person and therefore you aren't too bothered about whether he gets the girl in the end or not. It's a funny film with some great funny moments, and Douglas, McConaughey and Garner in particular are great, and very well cast. Although its a reworking of a story that's been done many times, its still a great take on it and I enjoyed every minute and amazingly, so did my other half! I'd recommend it!

Directed by Mark Waters
Written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore
Certificate: 12 / Running Time: 100 minutes

Main Cast:
Matthew McConaughey ... Connor Mead
Jennifer Garner ... Jenny Perotti
Michael Douglas ... Uncle Wayne
Emma Stone ... Allison Vandermeersh
Breckin Meyer ... Paul
Lacey Chabert ... Sandra
Robert Forster ... Sergeant Volkom

Thank you for reading.

Summary: A very good rom com that I enjoyed!