July 27, 2020
'Ghost'
The spirits of The Ringer's Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Amanda Dobbins come back to earth to rewatch the 1990 romantic thriller 'Ghost' starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg.
Cast
Patrick Swayze as Sam Wheat
Demi Moore as Molly Jensen
Whoopi Goldberg as Oda Mae Brown
Tony Goldwyn as Carl Bruner
Rick Aviles as Willy Lopez
Vincent Schiavelli as Subway Ghost
Directed by: Jerry Zucker
Written by: Bruce Joel Rubin
Notes
- Made on a $22 million budget and grossed over $500 million worldwide – the #1 movie of 1990 ('Pretty Woman' was #2).
- Won Best Supporting Actress (Whoopi Goldberg) and Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars; also nominated for Best Picture.
- Bruce Willis turned down Sam – later called himself a 'knucklehead' and chose 'The Sixth Sense' partly because he'd passed on Ghost.
- Demi Moore cut her hair without telling the director – showed up on set and it became iconic.
- Tony Goldwyn was so good and so hateable as Carl that it actually hurt his career – people couldn't disassociate him from the villain until Scandal 20+ years later.
- The pot collapsing in the pottery scene was an ad-lib; they kept going with it.
- 'Swayze' became hip-hop slang for 'I'm out/leaving' – credited to Notorious B.I.G.
- The dark shadow ghost sounds were babies crying played at extremely slow speeds backwards.
Categories
Roger Ebert's review
Quote from Rog's review:
“The movie's single best scene is one of the quietest. Swayze has to make contact with Goldberg, and convince her that he is for real. She naturally assumes he's nuts.”
Not a huge fan – couldn't have his emotions manipulated.
Most re-watchable scene
- The pottery scene with 'Unchained Melody' – iconic, now also unintentionally hilarious.
- Sam gets shot/killed – chases the mugger then looks back and sees his own body.
- Oda Mae Brown's introduction – 'What a crock of shit'.
- Whoopi trying to convince Demi Moore she's real / the 'Rita Miller' bank sequence – peak Whoopi.
- Carl dies and goes to hell.
- The ending – Sam says goodbye to Molly.
What aged the best?
- Demi Moore's haircut – became iconic and essential to the movie's identity.
- Unintentional comedy of Swayze's reaction faces when people pass through him.
- Tony Goldwyn's performance as Carl – so good it hurt his career.
- The apartment / movie real estate – great SoHo loft.
- Demi Moore as a great crier – ambidextrous tears from each eye at different times.
What aged the worst?
- The opening credits.
- CGI/special effects are very 1990s.
- The old work computers with green font.
- Swayze dying prematurely at 57 changes how you watch the ending.
Casting what-ifs
- Bruce Willis turned it down thinking it wouldn't work with the main character dead the whole time.
- Also turned it down: Kevin Bacon, Alec Baldwin, Nicolas Cage, Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, John Travolta, and many more.
- Nicole Kidman auditioned for Molly but was deemed not a big enough name.
- Ken Olin was supposed to be Carl but couldn't get out of his TV show commitment.
Best "that guy"
- Rick Aviles as Willy Lopez – 'kind of looks like Luis Guzman's cousin'.
- Vincent Schiavelli as Subway Ghost – only 4 minutes of screen time.
- Stephen Root as the detective – 'the birth of that guy'.
Over-acting award
- Patrick Swayze – the faces, the eye-bulging, the horrified reactions when people pass through him.
- Vincent Schiavelli – hovering for most of his 4 minutes.
Apex Mountain
- Patrick Swayze – yes, cements his run of Dirty Dancing, Roadhouse, Ghost, 'Point Break'.
- Demi Moore – yes, leads to 'A Few Good Men', Vanity Fair cover, becoming an A+ lister for a decade.
- Unchained Melody – absolutely yes.
- Going to hell / shadow demons – best depiction of going to hell in movies.
Picking nits
- Carl's plan to get Sam's passwords by staging a street crime is terrible – he does all transactions on his work computer with no door on his office.
- Carl's cut is only $80,000 – not enough for that level of crime.
- Molly has almost no questions for Sam through Whoopi's proxy.
- Sam can touch/shove Willy Lopez but can't touch Molly.
Sequel, prequel, prestige TV or untouchable?
Wouldn't be against it if modernized – Molly was 5 months pregnant, the Carl twist should come midseason.
(Probably) unanswerable questions
- Is this what really happens when you die? Bill genuinely believes the binary heaven/light vs. hell/shadow demons depiction.
- How long after witnessing Sam ascend to heaven does Molly wait before dating again?
- What happens to mediocre people in this afterlife? Is there a 'G-League for heaven'?
Who won the movie?
Bill votes Swayze – he's the only male actor from that era who could have made this work. Chris votes Whoopi.
Half-assed (internet) research
- Released on VHS in March 1991; sold 646,000 videos for rental and 66,000 LaserDiscs; made $65 million in rentals.
- A total of 20 ghosts appear in the movie.
- Swayze chewed ice during cold-weather scenes so his breath wouldn't be visible since he's a ghost.
- Naked Gun 2 1/2 parodied the pottery scene.