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Charles Dickens meets chick flick in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, an enjoyably cheesy comedy about a self-important bachelor who gets a ghostly wake-up call.
Fashion photographer Connor Mead (Matthew McConaughey) has a thing for the ladies. The notorious ladies’ man has a different woman every night—or, on a good day, every few hours. But when he travels home to Newport for his little brother’s wedding, all those years of womanizing finally come back to haunt him. Literally.
After he wreaks havoc on the rehearsal dinner, Connor is confronted by the ghost of Uncle Wayne (Michael Douglas), the man who took him in and taught him his womanizing ways. Wayne warns that, throughout the course of the night, Connor will be visited by three ghosts, who will show him what a mess his life has become.
Of course, if you’re familiar with Dickens’s holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, you already know where this is going. Guided by these three ghosts, Connor revisits the women in his past. Then he gets a look at the way people see him today. And, finally, he glimpses the inevitable loneliness in his future.
Though the story may be all too familiar, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past offers an amusingly over-the-top twist on an old classic—and that’s due, in no small part, to the brilliant casting choices. After last year’s painful Fool’s Gold, I definitely had my doubts—but McConaughey is perfect for the part of the cheesy, slicked-back ladies’ man. He’s slimy and insensitive, yet he’s oddly charming, too. Believe it or not, though, he manages to be out-cheesed by Douglas, whose smarmy schtick, self-confident swagger, and tinted glasses are, well…dead-on.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Garner, who plays Connor’s childhood flame—the one who got away—is the perfect foil for the flamboyant ladies’ man. She’s smart, reserved, and elegant—in other words, she’s everything he’s not. And although they’re complete opposites, it’s clear that she’s just what he needs (though the reverse might not be the case).
But it isn’t just the main characters who make Ghosts such silly fun. The film is haunted by hilarious supporting characters, too—from Lacey Chabert’s Sandra, the stereotypically crazy bride, to her dad, Robert Forster’s Sarge, the Korean War vet who’s officiating the wedding. Oorah!
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past might not tell a surprising story, but it’s surprisingly entertaining. It’s witty and wacky and filled with hilarious characters—and it fully embraces its cheesiness. Put that all together, and it makes for a ghoulishly good time.
