Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
3 Lloyds – Not Family-Friendly
PG-13 for sexual content throughout, some language
and a drug reference.
Running Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
New on DVD - September 22, 2009
Originally posted on Frame by Frame: A Family-Friendly Guide to the Movies Blog
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Celebrity photographer Connor Mead, played by Matthew McConaughey, loves freedom, fun and women. In case you’re wondering, he also loves them in that order. A committed bachelor, who thinks nothing of breaking up with multiple women on a conference call, Connor’s mockery of romance proves a real buzz-kill for his kid brother. While surrounded with a houseful of well wishers, Paul asks his brother, Connor, to give a toast at his wedding. It’s here that we suddenly see what appears to be a match-made-in-heaven, fall apart.
Then, just when it looks like Connor may single-handedly ruin the wedding, he’s visited by the ghosts of his former jilted girlfriends, who take him on a revealing and hilarious odyssey through his failed relationships – past, present and future.
In Search of True Love
On the surface Ghosts of Girlfriends Past looks like nothing more than a knock-off of The Christmas Carol with a slightly different twist. There’s a visit from three ghosts. The recurring appearance of a dead Uncle, and of course, the girlfriends. While the premise of the movie is taken straight from the Christmas Carol playbook, make no mistake, this is not an adaptation of the Christmas Carol story.
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is a movie about a search for true love.
Not only is this a movie about a search for true love, but it also delves into the results of young love gone bad. Connor’s character treats love and sex like junk-food-happy candy. In his mind love should not last long, and there’s nothing worse than getting stuck in a marriage with the same woman. To Connor, women are objects and toys only to be used for his own junk-food-addiction. Where did he learn this from? His Uncle Wayne, played by Michael Douglas. As a kid, he adored his Uncle Wayne. Not only did he adore him as a kid, who taught him everything he knows about women, but he still adores him as an adult. Connor proudly declares that his Uncle was a legend and really knew how to live it up.
But, this is all about to change.
First, the free-wheeling photographer playboy finds himself haunted by the spirits of girlfriends past, present and beyond. Then, he discovers his long lost feelings for his first love, played by Jennifer Garner, are suddenly awakened. He has three tour guide-ghosts along the way, with the one constant Uncle who’s trying to teach “Dutch” a lesson too. Over all, this makes for a very humorous movie! I like Matthew McConaughey. While he may seem somewhat one dimensional, I simply like his acting style. Then when you toss in Jennifer Garner and Michael Douglas, the cast simply makes for great on-screen chemistry.
As for content, there’s lots of sex talk, but there’s also a lot of relationship talk too. During the opening moments of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past I wondered if this would be nothing more than a Rated R movie trying to slide under the radar disguised in PG-13 clothes. The opening scenes contain lots of skantily clad women running around in their underwear. Then, toss in Connor’s fascination and desire to have sex with every female he sees, I thought Ghosts of Girlfriends Past would be nothing more than a tamed down, pruned back Sex in the City. However, this quickly changes once McConaughey’s character heads for his brothers wedding. That’s not to say the movie quickly changes gears moving away from the sex talk. That’s far from the case. But, we do discover the scriptwriters are creative and do want to delve deeper into the theme of relationships.
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past provides an interesting look at what many may find themselves trapped in today. A cycle of meaningless relationships, leading to nothing more than an emtpy feeling by the end of the day. When you go see this flick, go in knowing there’s more taking place here than meets the eye.
As for the rating, we once again discover the need for another rating. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is not family-friendly with a PG-13 rating. The content is mature and full of sex. Therefore, it would be better rated for the 18 and above crowd. Or even a 21 and up group. After all, this is dealing with a topic of lost love, bad choices, and discovering true love. Those are subject matters far better suited for an older adult audience.
Enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus
