Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)

While attending his brother's wedding, a serial womanizer is haunted by the ghosts of his past girlfriends.

Director:

Mark Waters

Writers:

Jon Lucas, Scott Moore

Stars:

Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Emma Stone

1 win.

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 Baldoni	...	Nadja (as Emily Foxler)
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:

santa claus character | photographer | assistant | asian american | disco | 

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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 [France] New Line Cinema

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese Chinese Spanish

Release Date:

1 May 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Filming Locations:

Brophy Elementary School, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$37,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,411,434, 3 May 2009

Gross USA:

$55,250,026

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$102,366,815

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jon Shestack Productions, New Line Cinema, Panther

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on the novel A Christmas Carol in Prose, 1843, by Charles Dickens.

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Goofs

When Connor goes to his prom dance we can hear "The Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats setting the action after 1982. After the prom, Connor goes to with his uncle to a place where we can hear "Get Down Tonight" by KC & The Sunshine Band (released in 1975). Approximately two years later, Connor says "I got the new Poison," and shortly thereafter, "Nothin' But a Good Time" (released in May 1988) begins playing. Therefore we can assume that the dance was in 1986 and there were no anachronisms present.

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Quotes

Sergeant Volkom: It's not complicated. Our guests are represented by the Allies. Paul, you and your guests are Nazis.
Paul: I'll try not to read into that, sir.
Sergeant Volkom: Blue frogmen are non-requisite support personnel. Waiters, photographers, caterers, band members and so forth.
Jenny Perotti: Oh, Donna, look. You got a grenade launcher.
Donna the Bridesmaid: Oh, my God, I love grenade launchers.
[Jenny looks at Donna and smiles]
Sandra: Daddy, you're not showing off your seating chart, are you?

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Connections

Version of Scrooge and Marley (2001)

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Soundtracks

Holding Back the Years
Written by Mick Hucknall and Neil Moss
Performed by Simply Red
Courtesy of Warner Music U.K. Ltd.
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

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.