Two Dramas from Paramount

Ghost (December 27/08)

An unapologetic crowd pleaser, Ghost follows the spirit of a mild-mannered banker (Patrick Swayze's Sam Wheat) as he attempts to both solve his own murder and say goodbye to his devoted girlfriend (Demi Moore's Molly). It's clear right off the bat that director Jerry Zucker is looking to evoke the feel of an old-fashioned Hollywood romance, as the filmmaker shamelessly attempts to capture the viewer's interest with a myriad of recognizable (and downright hoary) elements - including the hiss-worthy villain and the almost absurdly idealized relationship between Sam and Molly. The degree to which screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin develops the characters and the admittedly absurd storyline proves instrumental in allowing one to overlook the almost egregious familiarity of the whole thing, with the palpable chemistry between Swayze and Moore certainly standing as Ghost's strongest (and justifiably indelible) attribute. It's only as the movie creeps into its relatively uneventful midsection that the viewer's interest starts to wane, as Rubin places the emphasis on subplots that simply aren't all that interesting and seem to have been included simply to pad out the running time (ie Sam's sleazy friend Carl hits on Molly). There's also little doubt that Rubin's script is increasingly unable to withstand close scrutiny, with the presence of several head-scratching elements (ie why can't Sam, after learning how to move objects, just touch Molly instead of using Whoopi Goldberg's Oda Mae Brown as a vehicle?) essentially demanding that the viewer take things at a purely surface level and not ask too many questions. Such deficiencies hardly impede one's overall enjoyment of the piece, however, and it's ultimately impossible to deny Ghost's place as an entertaining, unexpectedly moving love story.

The Soloist was originally slated for release during last year’s awards season, with the film’s move into the spring bringing with it rumors of behind-the-scenes problems and internal strife within the studio. It’s become clear, however, that the movie’s release was most likely shifted for the simple fact that it’s just not very good, despite the best efforts of director Joe Wright and a uniformly superb cast. The film casts Robert Downey Jr. as Steve Lopez, a Los Angeles-based journalist who stumbles upon the story of his career after discovering a Juilliard-trained musician (Jamie Foxx's Nathaniel Ayers) living on the streets. Wright – working from a script by Susannah Grant – certainly tries his hardest to elevate the proceedings with the inventive visuals he’s come to be known for, and yet it does become awfully difficult to overlook the increasingly stagnant nature of the movie’s storyline (ie the bottom line is that there’s just not enough material here to sustain an almost two-hour running time). Foxx’s expectedly stirring performance is hindered by his inherently standoffish character, which ultimately does ensure that the viewer has virtually no rooting interest in Ayers’ ongoing success. And while it does initially seem as though the film will, at the very least, offer up an intriguing look at the running of a newspaper in the 21 st century, the inner workings of Lopez’s newsroom is quickly abandoned in favor of an emphasis on the character’s out-and-about attempts at profiling his subject’s admittedly perilous existence. The movie’s final attempts at tugging at the viewer’s heartstrings ultimately fall flat, and it’s consequently impossible to label The Soloist as anything more than a well-intentioned misfire.