Westside Steve Posted May 14, 2009 Report Share Posted May 14, 2009 Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past New Line PG 13 1oo min First the good news: The Plaza 8 Theaters at Chapel Hill are open under the Cleveland Cinemas banner and Jeff’s still at the helm. Hopefully we’ll get some of those weird Cedar Lee flicks down here in Summit County. Now the bad news: I just sat through one of the year’s biggest dogs, a Christmas Carol takeoff called GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST. No, dear friends, there’s no yuletide joy in this may release, au contraire, it’s a chick flick and a bad one at that. The first foreboding I got, of course, was Matthew McConaughey’s name on the banner. Now I don’t hate the guy but lets say my expectations of anything he stars in are pretty low to begin with. This one’s even worse than I’d expected. Here’s why. In any good or even OK chick flick the guy is expected to be an irresponsible, crude, uncaring but in the end adorable lout to be shown the error of his chauvinistic ways by the powerful woman. I get it. Problem is that this guy, Conor Mead (McConaughey) is just too much of an A-hole to like. He’s rude crude and socially unacceptable but the ladies throw themselves at him like underwear at a Tom Jones show. Conor surprises everyone by actually showing up for his milquetoast little brother’s wedding but true to form gets drunk and completely pisses off bro’s annoying yap dog of a fiancée and everyone else. Here’s the tell: his childhood sweetheart (Jennifer Garner) is a bridesmaid and from the sexual tension you know she’ll be the one to tame the wayward man. Like Renee Russo, I’m not 100% convinced that Garner isn’t actually a transvestite, but I digress… So after ruining the rehearsal, destroying the cake and hitting on the bride’s mom (the still lovely Anne Archer) he passes out only to be visited by two apparitions, his 1980s era first conquest (Emma Stone) and his boozy dead playboy uncle Wayne, played by Michael Douglas who apparently lost a bet. Off we go through Conor’s sordid romantic past until, ahh hell, you guessed it. It’s not too funny, it’s predictable, the writing is awful and the characters annoying but I have a soft spot for a happy ending. Anyway it could have been worse. It could have starred Julia Roberts and Keanu Reeves… D+ WSS westsidesteve@aol.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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