Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

3/5 stars

Entertaining, passable, and witty, this romantic comedy is a run-of-the-mill movie still worth your time and money.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is a story of a commitment phobic guy who wants to salvage his brother from committing the biggest mistake of his life—getting married. Connor Mead (Matthew McCounaughey) is a well-known photographer who thinks “love is comfort food for the weak”. He cares nothing but get a woman in bed and leave her afterwards. Reminded by her personal assistant that he is due for his brother’s wedding rehearsal, Connor makes a trip back home to convince his brother that tying the knot is a mistake. On the brink of totally ruining his brother’s wedding, Connor was visited by three ghosts that showed him the past, present, and future of his relationships. Starting off with his beloved uncle, idol, and mentor, Uncle Wayne—who appeared to him because he doesn’t want his nephew’s life to end up just like his. This trip back home for his brother’s wedding also reunited him with his childhood sweetheart and love of his life, Jenny (Jennifer Garner). And together with the three ghosts, Jenny will make Connor realize how awful his perspective of love has turned out to be.

Very very predictable, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past will remind us of the classic Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” ghosts-visiting-in-one night formula. The movie’s narrative is rich in substance that weren’t all maximized by Hollywood’s usual just to kill the runtime clichés. Very bad because the story has depth and some real sentiments that could’ve appealed more to the audience but the use of too much stereotypes has diminished the intensity of some great emotions in the film. However, bearing in mind that this movie belongs to the romantic comedy genre, being formulaic and predictable shouldn’t really be much of a concern because it is but normal that at the end, we already know that the boy and the girl will end up with each other. Not a shocking ending after all. Aside from the usual kilig and some sense or lesson you will deduce from the story, the characters’ journey to get to their resolutions in these kinds of movies is the main point of watching romantic comedies. With the ample humor and just enough twists and turns in every character’s conflict, it balanced out the tedious clichés used in the narrative. Just by that, this movie is really enjoyable.

McCounaughey was perfect as Connor Mead. I don’t think anybody in Hollywood is as right for the character as him. Garner on the other hand was a bit of mediocre in this film but in overall assessment, she’s ok in this film. But I have to say, there was nothing as in 0 chemistry between McCounaughey and Garner. In my opinion, Jennifer was never the leading lady type. The supporting cast really shined in this movie. They are another reason why this film is still worth watching.

Though not the kind of movie you would expect from the pairing of two big stars like McCounaughey and Garner, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is a very entertaining movie. It’ll make you laugh at certain points and will also touch you without you noticing it. Conflicts and resolutions in the movie are unsurprising but the screenplay was very very good and that alone redeemed this movie. I say this movie is still worth it, because it’ll entertain you, make you feel kilig, and most importantly the movie will remind you to never run away from love because at the end of everything, nothing beats the feeling of waking up in the morning in the arms of LOVE.
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