The Ghost is Sam Wheat; a New York City banker with a girlfriend named Molly he plans to marry. Those plans are ruined one night when he’s targeted by a mugger. That’s the point in which this movie goes from a boring romantic prelude to something interesting. Sam is shot during the attack but still chases the guy until he realizes he’s lying on the ground behind himself in Molly’s weeping arms.

The plot has to do with his efforts to save Molly; her boy-haired look suggests her next “ditto” will be in the arms of another woman; from a similar fate. Sam’s killing wasn’t random; a reveal that begins a crafty balance of drama, action and comedy. That latter genre, which makes for the best parts, comes almost solely at the hands of Whoopi Goldberg as a “spiritual” medium named Oda Mae Brown.

my rating : 4 of 5

1990