ghosts

romantic comedies always figure in hbo's sunday nights. the past weeks have spooned romcoms and last night had a serving of ghosts of girlfriends past, starring matthew mcconaughey, jennifer garner and michael douglas. when you watch these kind of films, it pays not to have any expectations whatsoever. just go with the flow and continue doing what you do on the side (read: cooking nilaga for late night dinner).

the movie tells the story of connor mead (mcconaughey), a bachelor who is haunted by the ghosts of his past girlfriends at his younger brother's wedding. he had a "thing" with jenny perotti (garner) but was swayed not to be committed after she didn't dance with her during their prom. when he came back at their estate to attend his younger brother's wedding, his uncle wayne (douglas), now a ghost, appears before him to make him realize his relationship mistakes. after seeing a ghostly flashback of "the making of connor mead" and a series of slapsticky situations, he finally gave in to his heart's desire, wooed and won jenny once and for all. unlike other romcoms, this one didn't have the obligatory funny male buddies, although it played with the idea of geeky groomsmen and hot and looking-to-be-laid bridesmaids. the funny moments were not that funny and some people who find it hard to differentiate cinematic approach from real life situations might find connor's point of view just plain mean. the "looking back" part was ok, but it was all too stretched when they used it to illustrate connor's "future" to die all alone, with only his brother attending his funeral. all in all, this one was dull and failed to live up to its aim of being "a christmas carol".

Sergeant Volkom: [making his FOTB wedding reception toast in full military dress uniform] It was cold and dark, and we'd been taking fire for hours. Took an incoming mortar hit. I opened up his jacket, and his insides fell out; and I had his bloody guts in my hand. They were warm and mushy and squishy. And I push them back right into his body cavity, and willed him to live with my tears. And THAT is what true love is... hoo-ah!

Connor Mead: Someone once told me that the power in all relationships lies with whoever cares less, and he was right. But power isn't happiness, and I think that maybe happiness comes from caring more about people rather than less...