You would be better advised to seek out a tape of BLITHE SPIRIT before wasting your time on this "pastiche". O.K., the sexes are reversed here, but it just barely falls short of being a scene-for-scene "remake" of BLITHE SPIRIT. Note, though, that no credit is given to Noel Coward. Some South American tale "Dona Flor and her two Husbands" gets cited. If you are familiar with BLITHE SPIRIT, the similarity leaps at you. There is even the comic "exorcism" episode, again with the sexes reversed.
The question is: why does it fail? It must be the direction, because the cast work is quite good. Perhaps, too good. Too serious. There is no lightness about it. The director simply didn't understand that a ghost story that is supposed to be a light comedy, has to be light. Here, everyone and everything is so intense. They are taking this ghost business seriously, one way or another, so presumably the viewer is supposed to do so too. But when you do, the humour evaporates.
The story is fairly simple, though complexities arise. Sally Field is a widow of three years who plans to wed again and open her closed house. The former spouse was something of a rake-hell dancer/choreographer; the new one is a dead serious archaeologist. Alas, the nuptials are only in the rehearsal stage when the ghost of Numero Uno appears and wreaks havoc. Now, here, we must pause a bit. Does the director want us to believe the ghost is real, or is he the product of Sally's own indecision as to whether she is still in love with the former spouse? That's what I mean about introducing seriousness.
Well, finally we are about to get to the nuptials, when the spouse to be falls down the stairs, just as Numero Uno had done at a drunken bash three years previously. Again KISS ME GOODBYE is emulating BLITHE SPIRIT, because the new wife there was killed at the end, leaving two ghosts to haunt the widower. Is this a repeat? If you must know, see this film to find out. Sally Field is always worth a watch. That's the one point on which KISS ME GOODBYE doesn't fail.
The question is: why does it fail? It must be the direction, because the cast work is quite good. Perhaps, too good. Too serious. There is no lightness about it. The director simply didn't understand that a ghost story that is supposed to be a light comedy, has to be light. Here, everyone and everything is so intense. They are taking this ghost business seriously, one way or another, so presumably the viewer is supposed to do so too. But when you do, the humour evaporates.
The story is fairly simple, though complexities arise. Sally Field is a widow of three years who plans to wed again and open her closed house. The former spouse was something of a rake-hell dancer/choreographer; the new one is a dead serious archaeologist. Alas, the nuptials are only in the rehearsal stage when the ghost of Numero Uno appears and wreaks havoc. Now, here, we must pause a bit. Does the director want us to believe the ghost is real, or is he the product of Sally's own indecision as to whether she is still in love with the former spouse? That's what I mean about introducing seriousness.
Well, finally we are about to get to the nuptials, when the spouse to be falls down the stairs, just as Numero Uno had done at a drunken bash three years previously. Again KISS ME GOODBYE is emulating BLITHE SPIRIT, because the new wife there was killed at the end, leaving two ghosts to haunt the widower. Is this a repeat? If you must know, see this film to find out. Sally Field is always worth a watch. That's the one point on which KISS ME GOODBYE doesn't fail.