6/10
Ghost For Adults?
19 July 2016
A woman (Juliet Stevenson) dealing with inconsolable grief over the death of her partner (Alan Rickman) gets another chance when he returns to earth as a ghost.

The title comes from a word game played by the main characters, in which they challenge each other to by turns repeat and add to a series of adverbs describing the depths of their mutual affection. The working title for the film was 'Cello', a reference not only to the cello within the film, but also to the Italian word 'cielo' for heaven. I like the original title better, but understand why the new one might be seen as more marketable.

The film was made-for-TV, and produced in a 28-day shooting schedule for just $650,000. Of course, it rises well above that due to its strong pair of actors. When did Alan Rickman really become known as a great actor? Certainly not in "Die Hard" (though he is great)... could this have been a big turning point for him? Roger Ebert called it "a Ghost for grownups" (a common comparison because of the shared theme of lovers returning as ghosts and the concurrent releases of the movies) and considered the movie to reveal "some truths that are, the more you think about them, really pretty profound." I don't know if I would give the film nearly as much weight as Ebert does, but I do enjoy seeing dead people discuss cinema.
2 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed