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Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Buzz says:   MPAA Rating: PG-13
Current Showtimes: No showtimes available

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days was cute and fun. The Wedding Planner was pleasant. Failure to Launch wasn’t great. Fools Gold was awful. While I’m happy to report that Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is no Fools Gold, it still isn’t anything to write home about. Matthew McConaughey plays (yet again) a commitment-phobic guy who realizes the errors of his ways at the hands of a beautiful woman, and this time Jennifer Garner takes on said role. Connor Mead (McConaughey) is an unemotional jerk who doesn’t believe in love. When he attends the wedding rehearsal of his little brother (Breckin Meyer), he locks eyes with Jenny Perotti (Garner), the one woman he ever loved, who also happens to be the Maid of Honor. Connor’s behavior turns everyone off during what would be an otherwise cute and romantic weekend, and he thus is visited by ghosts, including those of his swinging uncle (Michael Douglas) and first sex partner (Emma Stone), who teach him the errors of his smarmy ways.

The film, directed by Mean Girls’ Mark Waters, is so cliché that one wonders just how many romantic comedy conventions can be jam packed into an hour and a half. Being a cliché chick flick is fine, as films like Ghosts of Girlfriends Past are like comfort food, but this one leaves a semi-sour aftertaste. The characters in the film aren’t fleshed out, and some are downright unlikable. McConaughey’s Connor is so smug that it is nearly impossible to believe that Garner’s character would ever fall in love with him. Also, Lacey Chabert, as the bride to be, is shrill and desperately over-the-top. It doesn’t even really seem to be her fault; her character is simply a caricature and nothing more. Garner, Stone, and Douglas all give quite strong performances, yet it seems as if they know that their talents could be put to better use. Stone, a standout in films like The House Bunny and Superbad, gets the most laughs in the film, as she plays the Ghost of Girlfriends Past complete with scrunchies, an 80s wardrobe, and a mouth full of braces. Garner, who was absolutely perfect in films like Juno and 13 Going on 30, does all she can with a role that a cardboard cutout could play and come off as real.

The ghost element of the film is a bit scatterbrained, leaving many questions unanswered. Ghosts of people who are alive visit Connor, and it is never really differentiated between which ghosts are of dead people and which ones are of people who still walk earth. The supernatural mumbo jumbo in the film really isn’t important, though, as Ghosts of Girlfriends Past cares only about getting laughs, which don’t particularly come that often.

All negative jazz aside, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past isn’t an awful movie; it just isn’t a good one either. It’s a pleasant diversion for a lazy afternoon, and viewers won’t be mad that they’ve seen it. For more satisfying entertainment, check out Mean Girls or Freaky Friday, two far superior films directed by Mark Waters.