Ghost

I really loved the movie Ghost when it was first released in theaters thirty years ago.  I thought Patrick Swayze was incredibly appealing as Sam Wheat but I especially enjoyed Whoopi Goldberg in a hilarious performance as Oda Mae Brown.  It is now back in theaters as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series and I had the chance to see it yesterday.  I loved it just as much as I did then (for the same reasons).  Sam is an investment banker on Wall Street who discovers that there are unusually high balances in the accounts he manages and confides this information to his friend Carl Bruner (Tony Goldwyn).  Later that night he is killed when a robbery goes wrong and soon realizes that he is now a ghost.  He stays close to his girlfriend Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) and is horrified when his murderer, Willie Lopez (Rick Aviles), uses the key he stole from him to break into the apartment he shared with her.  He finds the medium Oda Mae, a con artist who turns out to have a real psychic gift, and convinces her to warn Molly that she is in danger.  Sam eventually learns that he was killed because of a money laundering scheme and uses both Oda Mae and Molly to thwart the killer.  It was so much fun to watch this again and most of my favorite scenes involved Oda Mae, especially the scenes where she impersonates Rita Miller in order to access the stolen money and when Sam forces her to turn the money over to a group of nuns.  Even though it is a bit simplistic, I've always liked the symbolism of having a beam of light take the good people to Heaven and having shadows take the evil people to Hell (I remember cheering when the murderers were dragged to Hell the first time I saw it), although I did find the final scene where Sam goes to Heaven to be a little bit cheesy this time around (the rainbow beams are a bit much).  I remember thinking that the, now iconic, pottery scene with "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers was so steamy when I first saw it and now I was surprised by how tame it seems by today's standards.  I love Swayze's performance as Sam because, not only is he incredibly handsome (I love his burgundy shirt and black jeans), he is so earnest in his protectiveness of Molly.  I would definitely like to have him watching over me!  Moore, and her uncanny ability to cry on cue, is also really good as a grief-stricken woman who is torn between wanting to believe that Sam is still with her and her better judgment.  Finally, Goldwyn is so creepy as Carl, especially in the scene where he contrives to take off his shirt.  I'm not usually a fan of romances but I love this movie (there is a reason why it was the number one box office draw in 1990).  I highly recommend it, especially on the big screen (go here).