High Spirits

This 1988 comedy about an Irish hotelier who decides to market his castle based on rumors that it's haunted is sadly underrated on IMDB. OK, it's a farce, which few Americans appreciate; and yes, there are some gags that don't work; and yes, Daryl Hannah turns in one of her lesser performances. But there are another dozen actors/actresses in the cast who are wonderful comedians, led by Peter O'Toole--who's as funny as he's ever been--and including Beverly D'Angelo, Steve Guttenberg, Jennifer Tilly, Peter Gallagher, Connie Booth, and Liam Neeson. I've watched it three times over the years, and every time I've thought it was funny. Worth a look.

High Spirits turned out to be a pretty good comedy. Peter Plunkett (Peter O'Toole), and his gang of merry Irishmen are facing foreclosure on their grand castle resort. The old fashioned castle needs a clever advertising gimmick to entice visitors. After talking with his looney, but sincere old mother who always claims that she talks to his dead father and the rest of the poor spirits looming around the dark castle, Plunkett decides that the castle ought to be haunted. And so, the guests are invited to stay among the spirits of the Plunkett family. Of course, Plunkett doesn't believe in the existence of ghosts, especially when he hasn't seen any for himself, despite his mother's attempts to convince him that they're everywhere. No, Plunkett's plan involves a few crappy props and some cheap scare tactics to thrill their small group of American guests.

But Plunkett and the gang (nor their furious guests) would ever have imagined real ghosts showing up. And this is where the movie really starts to get funny because everyone, after their various confrontations with the undead and all the strange things that start to happen in the castle, start to become so neurotic as they try to figure out what's going on.

The movie is a romantic comedy, of course, though it could've worked simply as a story of the funny occurences in the haunted castle as Plunkett and his frantic guests scurry about trying to deal with the situation any way that they can. Guttenberg is Jack, a sorry guy who's married to a real dull lady (Beverly D'Angelo) that really can't stand to know him, especially when he drags her out to some stupid castle. Jack actually starts to fall in love with one of the ghosts, a Plunkett ancestry named Mary (Daryl Hannah), a sickley looking young girl who died by the knife of her husband (Liam Neesom). The ghosts keep playing out the murder over and over again, and Jack, accidently intervening in one of the reenactments, somehow frees Mary from the murder. And so, now she's in love with Jack. But how does a ghost and a human end up together (and they have to end up together...after all it's a Hollywood love story)? Well, that's why you have to watch the movie.

Everyone in the movie is fantastic because, though some may start out to be quite annoying (such as the self-declared "professional parasychologist" or the cynical Sharon (D'Angelo)), they eventually come to be very entertaining as the movie goes along. I especially like the goofy interaction between Meg Tilly as the nympho and Peter Gallagher as the soon-to-be Priest. Peter O'Toole is wonderful. He is also the last to realize what the heck is going on.

It's definitely a comedy worth watching.

Peter O'Toole is hysterical in this film, and quite easily, is the glue that holds it together (contrary to popular opinion). While this film suffers its share of problems, (such as a few holes in the plot, a little shoddy acting here and there) it makes me laugh as few other movies have. O'Toole's drunken wisdom and fights with his drunken, ghost-talking mother are great. Steve Guttenberg does fine, Daryl Hannah is okay. The Irish country side is lovelyand haunting (incidentally, the movie was filmed in a castle in Limerick,Ireland, where Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes grew up); the set ofthe castle itself is the stuff that fairy tales are made of. The effort that the staff makes to haunt the cynical guests is great, in particular the Lady Godiva/Broggan Banshee fiasco.

While the whole spouse-swapping aspect of the movie is a little hazy, Beverly D'Angelo and Liam Neeson are grand. The entire plot is somewhat goofy, as are some of the transitions to get from Point A to Point B, but it is the humor that keeps it alive. It received terrible reviews, but it's absolutely worth a viewing if you're ever in the mood for something a little absurd that will make you chuckle.

Maybe I have a warped sense of humour (or just a very British one) but I laugh every time I see this film, and I've seen it well over a 100 times over the years. It is genuinely funny, the script is witty and the actors superb. This is one of my all time favourite rainy day films. No matter how times I watch it there are still little things I'd not noticed or things I'd forgotten happen. I strongly suggest getting this film out next time it's raining and you're stuck indoors, and if anyone from the BBC is reading, please put it on next bank holiday!!

If you can forgive the less-than-ideal acting by some of the other cast, Peter O'Toole once again shows why he's one of the greatest actors in the English speaking world. From the scene where he's trying to hang himself while arguing with his mother, to where he meets his ghost-Dad, O'Toole is hilarious as the bumbling, scheming drunk Irish fool who is desperate to keep the family castle in family hands.