Whoopi I - The Good?

This is the one that did it all for everyone but Jerry Zucker, who made this one of the must-see flicks of the 90's. Whoopi walked off with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and the theme song "Unchained Melody" carved a niche in lovers' hearts across the planet. It pumped Swayze up as big as he ever got with "Dirty Dancing", and firmly established Demi as a force to be reckoned with. Metaphysical buffs had enough discussion material to fill forums to SRO capacity after every showing of this highly entertaining, romantic and thought-provoking drama about love and life after death.

Sam Wheat (Swayze) and lover Molly (Demi Moore) are a star-crossed couple who have their idyllic life in a Tribeca loft tragically interrupted by a gunman (Rick Aviles) during a robbery. Swayze awakens to find himself in another dimension where he can eavesdrop on everyday life but is imperceptible to others. He seeks out Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi), a bogus psychic running a scam with her sisters in a seedy tenement area. I thought the interaction between Whoopi and Patrick was kinda shrill, but it cuts to the chase as Whoopi confronts a dubious Demi with intimate proof of Patrick's existence.

Patrick's overexuberance leads Whoopi to hit the bricks, causing him to wander the city in contemplation of his phantasmal future. In doing so, he stumbles across the duplicity of his business associate Carl (Tony Goldwyn), who not only set Patrick up but had fantasies of his own 'wet clay scene' with Demi. Unable to vent his rage and frustrations, he next comes across a subway ghost (Vincent Schiavelli) who teaches him some poltergeist stuff. Patrick is able to go back and coerce Whoopi into helping him get even with Goldwyn and his henchman, Aviles. Good eventually prevails, and in the closing scene we see Patrick reassuring Demi that love does, indeed, endure forever.

This is another classic case where one ponders the logic of the Academy in handing out Oscar gold. Whoopi did a better job in "The Color Purple" but got snubbed by the critics, and it makes you wonder whether this was just the same kind of restitution Spielberg got with "Schindler's List". It was her irreverent brand of comedy that gave this the touch of spice it needed to separate it from the pack. Otherwise this could have been a typical love-and-revenge "B" movie with little help from Swayze's limited acting skills and Demi's confining role as his grieving lover.

The supernatural theme was one that drew plenty of attention from New Age and metaphysical types. The concept of the disembodied spirit wandering the earth after an accidental death trying to find its place has been long been a popular metaphysical theory. Life after death has always fascinated us, and Zucker brought more than a few angles into play as Sam Wheat explored the realm of the afterlife in a transitional phase. The 'restless spirit' has long been a premise that has inspired countless volumes of literature. Metaphysical students will continue to point to "Ghost" as an example of how the grave is not always the final destination of a spirit seeking peace.

There's something for everyone in this classic ghost story, and that Special Someone will admire your taste when you bring this along for a quiet evening at home.