Ghost Image

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.

In GHOST IMAGE, Jennifer (Elisabeth Rohm) loses her boyfriend in a car accident. She soon starts seeing him in her latest party video, and he talks directly to her. Adding to the confusion, Jennifer has a history of hallucinations.

As the story unfolds, we find that the accident might not have been so accidental, and Jennifer becomes the prime suspect for police.

Roma Maffia plays the highly suspicious lead cop on the case, and Stacey Dash plays Jennifer's friend Alicia.

This is a somewhat interesting, though fairly sappy supernatural thriller...

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.

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.

Several other "reviewers" have mentioned how badly acted this movie was!? What?? Elisabeth Rohm, who has always been pretty stoic, and stunningly beautiful, really gives it a fabulous effort. She did 2 years of "Angel" and 5 years of "Law and Order" with basically a raised eyebrow and a blink of those incredible eyes. Here she makes up for lost time with as emotional a performance as you will ever see. She must have been an emotional wreck thru out the whole shooting of this. Watch it and you will know what I mean.

The movie itself and the other performances are OK. Psychological thrillers require a "suspension of belief", and the attempt at that and a kind of procedural police investigation, do not make for thrilling pacing. Slow, but well plotted (if you do the "suspension" thing), it makes for good viewing and a chance to see the "new", improved Elisabeth Rohm.