![]() Wedding interiors are lit with a golden glow and the camera just loves Garner of the exquisitely expressive face. The film is mostly set at Ipswich, Massachusetts' Crane Estate, (although everything is branded with Uncle Wayne's initials, a lame pun on 'Wayne Manor') and it's a lovely place. Future is dull, but capped with a clever Scrooge riff. There's wedding cake slapstick (and very bad continuity) and 'fun' with grooms and bridesmaids. (And call me crazy, but the shoulder length hair McConaughey sports in this segment suits him.) When we move into the present, guided by assistant Melanie (Noureen DeWulf, "American Dreamz"), the film flatlines again and never really recovers. Of course, she's blessed with delivering the back story of what happened to Connor and Jennifer's relationship, the meat of the film. Douglas's appearance gives the film a lift and Emma Stone ("The Rocker," "The House Bunny") as Allison Vandermeersh, the ghost of girlfriends past, almost makes it bounce for a while. His boorish behavior at his brother's rehearsal dinner isn't amusing either, although his attempted pickup of his sister-in-law to-be's mother, Vonda (Anne Archer, "Patriot Games," "Man of the House"), has a little spark, mostly due to Archer (and the fact that Connor may be sexist, but at least he's not ageist). Connor has his assistant video conference his last three dates so he can 'group dump' them as his current hookup looks on (and stays!). None of them arrive in the film's set up in which we're to believe that a famous photographer comes into a shoot where everything is so prearranged he literally just presses the button on the camera. ![]() It's mostly just there and is unevenly paced, but has a few moments. That said, "Ghosts of Girlfriends" past is better than getting poked in the eye with a stick. Then one notes that "Ghosts" was written by the duo behind "Four Christmases" and one's expectations sink again. Your money is better spent elsewhere.Movies starring Matthew McConaughey generally don't inspire much hope for anything resembling quality, or, even, entertainment, but Jennifer Garner is always likeable and director Mark Waters ("Mean Girls," "The Spiderwick Chronicles") has a pretty good track record. If you enjoy romantic comedies like Made of Honor, then you’ll Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. And it makes no sense as to why Jenny would ever be with him in the first place. He’s such a disgusting person that you don’t want Jenny to take him back. You don’t even feel bad for the decent people he screws over. Connor is so much of a slimeball that at no point do you ever feel bad for him. But much like last year’s Made of Honor, you have a hard time sympathizing with any of them. I don’t mind a romantic comedy as long as there’s a connection between the audience and the characters – like in Ghost Town. There’s the dirty uncle, the crazy father-in-law, the cougar mother-in-law, horny bridesmaids, bridezilla and the perfect guy threatening to steal the girl. Ghosts of Girlfriends past feels like a bad ad-lib romantic comedy script filled out by a perverted 14-year-old boy and a naïve 18-year-old girl. It’s lacks originality and simply melds formulaic romantic cheese with Scrooge’s Christmas story. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is just like every other typical romantic comedy: you know the outcome of the movie from the minute it starts. After Connor tries to pick up on his now-perfect childhood girlfriend Jenny Perotti (Jennifer Garner) at his brother’s wedding rehearsal, he’s visited by the ghost of his “dirty old man” uncle (Michael Douglas) who informs him that his night will be filled with three visits by ghost of previous girlfriends, showing his current shallow love life, the botched prior relationship with Jenny, and the eminent future created by the decision made in the past and present. In Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Matthew McConaughey plays lead character Connor Mead, a womanizing self-absorbed professional photographer. But you can’t always expect great things from great people. Writers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore wrote this summer’s next man-date flick, The Hangover – which has already been green-lit for a sequel before it’s theatrical release. Director Mark Waters gave us Mean Girls and produced the fantastic upcoming July film (500) Days of Summer (which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival). Technically speaking, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past should be a fantastic romantic comedy.
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