Curtain Call

A fun romantic comedy with Maggie Smith and Michael Caine as charming ghosts of a formerr era. The romance of the "alive" characters is fairly formula, but it is fun to watch Smith and Caine banter as they fade in and out of reality. Nothing serious, but a great movie for lovers of the theatre, or for bibliophiles.

CURTAIN CALL (2 outta 5 stars)

Harmless, barely amusing tale of some blank-souled Yuppies who move into a house which turns out to be haunted by the spirits of a bickering husband and wife acting team (Michael Caine, Maggie Smith). James Spader plays the only person who can see them... as they continue to dispense advice... and turn his life upside down as he tries to avoid serious commitment to his long-time fiancée. Not really very funny, not really very romantic, not really very anything... just a way to kill some time. Not one of the more memorable comedies about ghosts annoying the living. Maybe with a better script the cast could have salvaged something out of it.

This movie was on TV the other afternoon and I decided to give it a go. I'm not usually a fan of these type of movies but I sat down to watch this willing to ignore its flaws and just be entertained.

I was entertained. Sure, it's not laugh-out-loud funny. It's utterly predictable. It's gimmicky. That's the type of movie it is. You have to meet it on its own terms and if you do that, you're likely to have a fun time.

James Spader stars as a selfish bachelor who buys a new luxurious house to anger his long-time girlfriend because he is afraid of commitment. When he moves in he begins to be haunted by the ghosts of two former classical actors (Michael Caine and Maggie Smith), who instill morals and so on and so forth, giving him friendly advice.

Yeah, I know, it's a pretty lame plot, but it works - mainly thanks to Caine and Smith, whose chemistry together really sparks. I'd recommend this to anyone who's just looking for some decent entertainment, not a masterpiece of the genre or anything - just a film to help pass the time, which this does; it's not insulting and it doesn't try to be anything it isn't.

James Spader, Maggie Smith, Michael Caine, Julia Walker, Marcia Gay Harden, and Sam Shepard star in "Curtain Call," a 1999 film directed by Peter Yates.

Spader plays Stevenson Lowe, a bachelor with a steady girlfriend (Walker) who buys a gorgeous old townhouse. However, he soon learns that it's haunted by its former owners, a married couple (Smith and Caine) who were theatrical stars in a past era. And even in death, they don't get along. Julia, his girlfriend, unhappy that he can't commit to her, breaks up with him, and his family publishing business is going in a direction he's not happy about. Through it all, he learns some things about love and taking a stand from his ghostly guests - though they would say he is their guest.

This is a nice film, but formulaic, and the script isn't very strong. It's pleasant enough, and the performances are certainly good from this wonderful cast, which also includes Buck Henry and Francis Sternhagen. Although not groundbreaking, it's a pleasant way to pass the time if you're looking for light entertainment.

"Curtain Call" (also called "It All Came True") is a film with a horrible pedigree. While it was released in some theaters, apparently it never did so in the USA and instead debuted on the Starz channel...sort of like a movie that goes straight to DVD. Obviously the production company had little faith in the film or perhaps ran out of money. This isn't all that unusual but for such a film to have Maggie Smith and Michael Caine in the film...that IS unusual.

When the story begins, Stevenon (James Spader) and his long-time girlfriend, Julia, are looking to buy a house. Now he is a successful publisher but he should NOT be able to afford the mansion that the realtor shows them. It's not only a gorgeous old place but it's in Manhattan and SHOULD cost a fortune to buy...especially since no one ever lived in it for long and it is essentially in brand new condition! Apparently, it was in probate for decades and the couple are able to get it for very little. But, of course, there is a catch....and that catch is that the place IS already occupied...by two ghosts!

Max and Lily (Michael Caine and Maggie Smith) are very nice ghosts who have lived there since the 1920s or 30s. And, unlike most ghosts in stories and films, they are nice and quite likable and nothing like those you'd see in "Ghostbusters"! And, like the nice couple who are ghosts in "Topper", the pair can apparently only be seen by Stevenson and offer him lots of advice...whether he wants it or not. They also can do rather magical things...like apparate anywhere they want in the world....though they seem to prefer spending most of their time in this mansion....and giving help to Stevenson concerning his miserable love life. Can Stevenson manage to live with these friendly ghosts or is this destined for failure?

I found that with this film in particular, reading through the reviews on IMDB was much less help than usual. The reviews either liked the film very much OR they thought it was less pleasant than a case of Ebola! Which is the truth and why such divergent opinions?!

So did I think it was any good? Well...some of this depends on you. For example, my wife HATES films which are cringe-worthy....whereas I often find them funny because of this. And, this movie is cringe-inducing at times....and if embarrassing scenes bother you, you might just hate parts of the film (such as the restaurant scene in Washington). I enjoyed it, as I found the film interesting and worthy as a time-passer. Not exactly brilliant (Spader was not at his best in this one), but Caine and Smith were charming.





By the way, if you can find this film anywhere other than the Popcorn Channel on the Roku, please see it that way instead. This channel places blocks of five commercials throughout the entire film...spaced every 5 or so minutes. I have never seen so many ads interrupt a film in my life. If I wasn't trying to see all of Michael Caine's films AND couldn't find it elsewhere, I would have just given up on the movie. I truly hope this channel goes out of business and soon, as seeing a movie like this is akin to torture. To make it worse, many times you are shown the same ad 5 times in a row!!