Ghost Image

I caught this a few days ago on Showtime while flipping through the cable guide. I'm a fan of Elisabeth Rohm from her Law and Order days and a huge fan of Roma Maffia from the first time I saw her in Disclosure with Michael Douglas. I'd never heard of this film so I didn't know what to expect, but the opening scene hooked me right in and I immediately found myself engrossed in the story.

I thought all the characters were engaging and I became caught up in the various story lines and plot twists throughout. Elisabeth plays the main character, Jennifer, a complex woman both fragile and strong who's life is an endless series of tragedies. She's on psychiatric medication due to her feelings of guilt on being the only survivor of a car crash that killed the rest of her family when she was little. If that isn't bad enough, the morning after her and her boyfriend host a party she loses him in a car crash and then some really strange things start happening.

As you watch, you question many things such as is her boyfriend really communicating with her through video footage from the party or is it all in her head? Is her dead, bloody little sister really appearing to her or is that also in her head? Was her boyfriend's death really an accident? And if not, was she the intended target? And who is stalking her? As the homicide detective, played by Roma, begins to wonder if Jennifer is responsible for her boyfriend's death, Jennifer starts to wonder too!

Though I could tell this was a low-budget film due to the mostly TV-actor cast and the limited locations, I thought, for the most part, the acting was superb as was the writing and directing. And the cinematography and score were outstanding! As I watched the film I wondered how they were going to resolve the plot twists and, considering the setup and tragedies surrounding Jennifer's life, how it could possibly have a satisfying ending. But to my surprise I found the ending very satisfying and emotionally uplifting. Check it out, it'll be well worth it.

The ghost of her late boyfriend talks to Elizabeth Rohm's character through a video in this slow-moving cable movie. The boyfriend died in a car accident that may not have been an accident. Rohm's character is trying to piece together the story. Everyone thinks she's nuts, of course, and the cops think she may be responsible for his death. The movie plays out more like a soap opera episode than a ghost story, unfortunately. Rohm is just OK as the bereaved (and haunted) gal pal, and the rest of the cast is your standard generic TV-type cast. Devoted TV fans may recognize Stacey Dash playing a former girlfriend of the deceased. A truly decent character actress, Roma Maffia, is wasted as the detective on the case. The ending is a real howler, by the way.

After about 45 minutes of developing characters that we don't care about, the director, writer, and editor seem to run out of ideas. Lots of red herrings are set out. Then they tie it all together with some voice over and flashback. Rohm tries hard, and probably does what the director asks, but she comes out looking like a pretty bad actress. It is hard to tell if the problem is her or the outtakes. Each individual scene is decent, but linked together they are inconsistent and contradictory in tone and emotion. I finished with the feeling that this film could have been a lot better if the crew had worked a little harder.

I saw "Ghost Image" on TV expecting... well, nothing really. All I knew it was about a young woman whose boyfriend dies in a car crash and then starts receiving messages from him from an old recording ("White Noise" instantly came to mind, but it's very, very different).

What I got was a good, entertaining plot that, although not greatly original, works and flows great. Unfortunately there were no big surprises (at least for me, maybe because I'm way too used to watching these types of movies, but I figured it all out very early into the movie, and when I expected it turn around on me, it just did what I had imagined), but the acting is pretty good.

Music was OK, there were 1 or 2 songs that stood out for me, the rest just played together with the movie, without calling too much for attention. People can argue this is how a soundtrack should be, but I love when soundtracks also "call" for my attention, and when these songs fit perfectly with the scene, it's just movie magic happening. Unfortunately, this movie had none of these moments.

Photography was also OK, nothing too original or adventurous, but the plot didn't call much for that kind of photography as well. The editing falls under OK as well, I was a bit disappointed on how clear the image was when the boyfriend was talking through the video, but apart from that, there aren't any big visual effects or anything.

So, it's a good, entertaining movie you could watch on a Sunday afternoon / night, nothing more.

6 out of 10.

I just saw this movie on Showtime last night and found it interesting (not good or bad, just interesting). I became a fan of Elizabeth Rohm from watching endless reruns of Law and Order on TNT. So when I read that she was starring in this movie I had to see it. Rohm, I thought, gave a very good performance of a woman hanging on to her sanity. Was she seeing ghosts or was it all in her mind. The rest of the cast should have taken acting lessons, or just watch Rohm and they would have gotten it right. Roma Maffia is a better actress (see Nip/Tuck) than her performance in this movie. Overall, if you have nothing else to do watch this just for Rohm's acting. I hope producers will use her talents wisely in the future and not let her just fade away like many other good, now forgotten, actors have.