Kiss Me Goodbye

A remake of 1976’s Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, Kiss Me Goodbye follows Sally Field’s Kay as her impending marriage to Jeff Bridges’ Rupert is threatened by the sudden appearance of her dead husband’s ghost (James Caan’s Jolly). Filmmaker Robert Mulligan, working from a screenplay by Charlie Peters, delivers a lackadaisical (and somewhat muted) piece of work that admittedly does grow more and more compelling as it progresses, with the film, in its hands-off early stages, benefiting substantially from the typically affable efforts of its three leads. It’s clear, then, that Kiss Me Goodbye begins to improve as Mulligan places an increased emphasis on overtly comedic sequences, as the picture’s second half is rife with laugh-out-loud bits of silliness and wacky misunderstandings. (There’s a hilarious interlude, for example, involving a priest who becomes convinced that Jolly’s spirit is trapped in a dog.) The end result is a somewhat erratic yet ultimately rewarding little comedy that boasts top-notch work from its three leads, with the stellar performances, coupled with a handful of standout sequences, effectively smoothing over the less-than-enthralling elements in Peters’ script.

**1/2 out of ****