After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.
While “Ghost” was released in theaters in 1990 and became a huge box office smash, cementing both Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze as Hollywood superstars, the film has aged pretty well over the last thirty years. Granted, some of the special effects are a little dated but aside from that, it is still a tearjerker of a tale with impassioned performances by Swayze and Moore but also the film’s antagonist, Tony Goldwyn, and Whoopi Goldberg, who deservedly won an Oscar for her performance. Directed by Jerry Zucker, who was known primarily for making farcical comedies such as “Airplane!,” “Top Secret!,” and “The Naked Gun,” here, he cast aside the physical comedy he was renowned for and concentrated on telling a magical love story between a young couple and in the process, proved to the world that he was capable of directing more than just comedy.
Sam (Patrick Swayze) and Molly (Demi Moore) have just moved into a big apartment in Manhattan together. They are head-over-heels in love with each other but one night after attending the theater, a mugging gone wrong leaves Sam dead and Molly grieving. What Molly doesn’t realize is that Sam’s spirit is still with her, he never left her side but he soon discovers that his best friend Carl (Tony Goldwyn) was responsible for his death. Sam and Carl worked together at a big bank and Sam soon learns that Carl is dealing with drug dealers and laundering money for them and that is why he was killed, because Carl needed his managerial password access to the entire system and because he was asking too many questions. Sam stumbles across Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg), a local psychic who pretends to speak to the dead but who can actually hear Sam. He enlists her help and together, they must try to convince Molly that she is in danger as Sam’s passwords are still in their apartment and Carl has recruited the man who shot and killed Sam, to pay Molly a visit.
“Ghost” works primarily because of the performances throughout. While Swayze had made a name for himself as a stoic action hero, breaking bones and karate-chopping bad guys in films like “Steel Dawn,” “Road House,” and “Next of Kin,” here, he gives a restrained, appealing performance, proving that with the right material and director, he could do more than beat up reprobates. Although he would continue making great action movies, “Ghost” was the film that allowed the world to see he had a more sensitive side too. “Ghost” also put Demi Moore on the Hollywood A-list and she is the heart and soul of the movie. I lost track of how many tears streamed down her face but every single time, she pulled it off with great aplomb, exhibiting an uncanny ability to cry on cue, a skill most other actors would die for. Her love for Sam and the need to want to be with him again is heartbreaking because they seemed like the perfect couple and were predestined to be together forever. Whoopi Goldberg brings much-needed humor and Tony Goldwyn, who initially comes off as the loyal best friend, is emphatically reprehensible as the story’s rapscallion, proving that he is a damn fine actor who can play the good guy or the bad guy accordingly, a trait not many actors can pull off.
Special Features include:
• NEW Filmmaker Focus
• Director Jerry Zucker on Ghost
• Commentary by Jerry Zucker and writer Bruce Joel Rubin
• Alchemy of a Love Scene
• Theatrical Trailer
• “Ghost Stories: The Making of a Classic.”
Available in a Special Edition Blu-ray July 21st
