MOVIE OF THE WEEK #2 (7/28/17): A GHOST STORY
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| "Who's that looking in the window ... Wait – that's not OUTSIDE the window!!!" M – yes, "M" (Rooney Mara) looks around the corner while the ghost of her late husband C – yes, "C" – (Casey Affleck) Credit: Bret Curry, courtesy of A24. All rights reserved. |
WATCH THE TRAILER(S) HERE:
KEY CAST MEMBERS: Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella and Toby Jones
WRITER(S): Kurt Johnstad (screenplay); Antony Johnston & illustrator Sam Hart (The Coldest City graphic novel on which the movie is based)
DIRECTOR(S): David Leitch
WEB SITE: https://a24films.com/films/a-ghost-story
HERE'S THE STORY: A man (Casey Affleck) is living in a home with his wife (Rooney Mara). And they are, for the most part, happy. Then he is killed in a car accident. But instead of ascending to heaven or descending to hell (or becoming a part of the dirt or wherever you believe we all go when we die), he simply becomes a ghost – wearing the sheet his body lies under at the mortuary.
So what does he do? What we all would most likely – he simply goes home.
But with his wife unable to see him, hear him or even feel his presence (save for the occasional flickering light) ... Which leaves the man – "C" for the purposes of a name – without much to do but watch as his wife's memories of him gradually (and sometimes painfully) fade into oblivion. But it's not just his wife's memories that C gains insight into – it's everyone who ends up living in the home they once shared.
What follows is an exploration of life, love, loss and learning how to cope with all three.
HERE'S THE STORY: A man (Casey Affleck) is living in a home with his wife (Rooney Mara). And they are, for the most part, happy. Then he is killed in a car accident. But instead of ascending to heaven or descending to hell (or becoming a part of the dirt or wherever you believe we all go when we die), he simply becomes a ghost – wearing the sheet his body lies under at the mortuary.
So what does he do? What we all would most likely – he simply goes home.
But with his wife unable to see him, hear him or even feel his presence (save for the occasional flickering light) ... Which leaves the man – "C" for the purposes of a name – without much to do but watch as his wife's memories of him gradually (and sometimes painfully) fade into oblivion. But it's not just his wife's memories that C gains insight into – it's everyone who ends up living in the home they once shared.
What follows is an exploration of life, love, loss and learning how to cope with all three.
WHO WILL LIKE THIS FILM THE MOST? People who appreciate the craft of storytelling that is done in a fashion that harkens back to a different age of filmmaking;
WHO WON'T (OR SHOULDN'T) LIKE THIS MOVIE? People with short attention spans; anyone still dealing with the loss of a spouse; those who hate movies where the dialogue is slight and the emotion is heavy; anyone who cannot deal with the concept of a man in a sheet for a majority of the film's 90-plus minutes; people who do not like movies that are esoteric in their very nature and will feel abstruse for that very reason
SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? "A very good if not great movie that is DEFINITELY not for everybody ..."
Sometimes, you see a movie and these words likely go through your head. In the case of A Ghost Story, however, truer words may never have been spoken as the film is a poignant, austere lesson in both filmmaking and its subject matter ... That is also very slow, methodical, striking (in a sometimes unsettling fashion) act of storytelling. It definitely serves a purpose as it allows for you to feel EVERY emotion of its two lead characters, which is essential in a film that often at times feels hardly any other beings and – save for one long sequence where a man (Will Oldham) makes a speech that is almost akin to this famous scene in explaining a major point of the movie itself – devoid of words. In effect, the story is like a ghost itself: Ever-present and yet, at the same time, barely there, whispering in the background, giving you just enough to be immersed in the experience so that every emotion, every heartbreak, every revelation hits you like the proverbial ton of bricks.
For her credit, Mara does a great job as she always does of playing characters with an underlying despair/hopelessness/sense of loss to them, which Affleck ups the ante on given that you don't see his face for most of the movie. This isn't a cheap parlor trick, either; it's a very creative way at examining something that affects us all – death, love, loss and making sense of it all – and is done so in a way that respects both the audience's intelligence and that of its characters. A Ghost Story is one of those films that you watch the first time just to see what happens and a second time to catch all the little things you didn't the first.
Then again, given the innate melancholy (or, if you prefer, outright sadness) found in the film's characters, you might be perfectly fine watching A Ghost Story just once if that's all you find yourself to be able to handle. Is there anything uplifting to be found? Yes, but you're going to go on a LONG emotional journey before you ever get there. The film plays out like a beautifully written, poignant breakup letter – how sad should I and for how long before I can appreciate this lesson?
It's a question only the film forces you to answer, but not without testing your limits in a variety of ways first. But if you can stick through the journey, you'll be rewarded with something I can almost guarantee you won't find anywhere else at the movies this summer.
SO, IS IT GOOD, BAD OR ABSOLUTELY AWFUL? "A very good if not great movie that is DEFINITELY not for everybody ..."
Sometimes, you see a movie and these words likely go through your head. In the case of A Ghost Story, however, truer words may never have been spoken as the film is a poignant, austere lesson in both filmmaking and its subject matter ... That is also very slow, methodical, striking (in a sometimes unsettling fashion) act of storytelling. It definitely serves a purpose as it allows for you to feel EVERY emotion of its two lead characters, which is essential in a film that often at times feels hardly any other beings and – save for one long sequence where a man (Will Oldham) makes a speech that is almost akin to this famous scene in explaining a major point of the movie itself – devoid of words. In effect, the story is like a ghost itself: Ever-present and yet, at the same time, barely there, whispering in the background, giving you just enough to be immersed in the experience so that every emotion, every heartbreak, every revelation hits you like the proverbial ton of bricks.
For her credit, Mara does a great job as she always does of playing characters with an underlying despair/hopelessness/sense of loss to them, which Affleck ups the ante on given that you don't see his face for most of the movie. This isn't a cheap parlor trick, either; it's a very creative way at examining something that affects us all – death, love, loss and making sense of it all – and is done so in a way that respects both the audience's intelligence and that of its characters. A Ghost Story is one of those films that you watch the first time just to see what happens and a second time to catch all the little things you didn't the first.
Then again, given the innate melancholy (or, if you prefer, outright sadness) found in the film's characters, you might be perfectly fine watching A Ghost Story just once if that's all you find yourself to be able to handle. Is there anything uplifting to be found? Yes, but you're going to go on a LONG emotional journey before you ever get there. The film plays out like a beautifully written, poignant breakup letter – how sad should I and for how long before I can appreciate this lesson?
It's a question only the film forces you to answer, but not without testing your limits in a variety of ways first. But if you can stick through the journey, you'll be rewarded with something I can almost guarantee you won't find anywhere else at the movies this summer.
OVERALL RATING (OUT OF FOUR POSSIBLE BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
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