Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)

A bachelor is haunted by the ghosts of his past girlfriends at his younger brother's wedding.

Director:

Mark Waters

Writers:

Jon Lucas, Scott Moore

Stars:

Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Michael Douglas

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew McConaughey	...	Connor Mead
Jennifer Garner	...	Jenny Perotti
Michael Douglas	...	Uncle Wayne
Breckin Meyer	...	Paul
Lacey Chabert	...	Sandra
Robert Forster	...	Sergeant Volkom
Anne Archer	...	Vonda Volkom
Emma Stone	...	Allison Vandermeersh
Daniel Sunjata	...	Brad
Noureen DeWulf	...	Melanie
Rachel Boston	...	Deena the Bridesmaid
Camille Guaty	...	Donna the Bridesmaid
Amanda Walsh	...	Denice the Bridesmaid
Emily Foxler	...	Nadja
Catherine Haena Kim	...	Charlece

Storyline

Connor Mead, a successful fashion photographer and a Lothario keen on casual sex, goes to his younger brother's wedding to convince him not to marry. He arrives at his dead uncle's estate during the rehearsal the night before the wedding; he starts in, taking his brother aside, trashing marriage. Later in the men's room, his uncle, who taught Connor all he knows about women, appears to him, confesses to have been wrong, and tells Connor that three ghosts will visit him that night: the ghosts of girlfriends past, present, and future. Connor has already set the breakup in motion. Can he learn anything from his life and fix what he's broken?

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Plot Keywords:

ghost | wedding | mens room | aqua velva | death of parents | 

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Taglines:

You can't always run from your past

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content throughout, some language and a drug reference

Details

Official Sites:

Metropolitan Films [fr] New Line Cinema

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 May 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los fantasmas de mi ex

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£976,780 (UK) (1 May 2009)

Gross:

$52,236,131 (USA) (7 August 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jon Shestack Productions, New Line Cinema, Panther

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Mark Waters installed a ping-pong table at both Crane Estate and Elm Bank Reservation, where the present-day wedding scenes were filmed, and would regularly challenge Micah Sherman, Albert M. Chan, and Michael Anastasia, who play the groomsmen.

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Goofs

During Connor's speech, Sandra's makeup is messed up with black smudges under her eyes, but when the camera angle changes, the smudges are gone.

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Quotes

Bar Twin, Bar Twin: [Together to Connor] You slept with my sister.

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Connections

Version of The Passions of Carol (1975)

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Soundtracks

"I Try"
Written by Macy Gray, Jin Soo Lim (as Jinsoo Lim), Jeremy Ruzumna, and David Lee Wilder
Performed by Macy Gray
Courtesy of Epic Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

User Reviews

Nont quite rom-com

For a rom-com, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is as dramatic as it could be, more Dickens than Apatow. Matthew McConaughey as womanizer Connor Mead is type cast as a rake waiting to be changed into a loving human being, The plot with returning dead lovers to teach him a lesson about having feelings is not quite as exotic as it sounds, for it is a device mainly to show him as a callow youth squiring and losing the love of his life, Jenny Perotti (Jennifer Garner). The drama is the disaster he makes of his brother's wedding and the tears he witnesses from the women he has seduced and left.

Since we all know enjoying casual sex is a no-no for descendants of Puritans, the outcome of the ghostly apparitions' lessons is secure in cliché land. Following the party line about scoundrels getting what they deserve is ghost of Uncle Wayne, a sort of Gordon Gekko gone good, an oily ex-Lothario played with relish by another spot-on bit of casting, Michael Douglas. His flowing hair and Hollywood-tinted big glasses call to mind producer Robert Evans (The Kid Stays in the Picture). Although Uncle Wayne is a recovered womanizer, at least for now, his speeches about loneliness and broken hearts ring true only for the moment, but long enough to affect the hero.

It's an enjoyable film with a smart cast, a preposterous story but a serious message about true love and selflessness. Not quite a romantic comedy, but very close indeed.