HIGH SPIRITS CAST MOVIE

Being quickly panned by British critics, and then dissed by their American colleagues, leads me to believe that many critics write negative reviews based on the opinions of others.

HIGH SPIRITS CAST MOVIE

Reviews of High Spirits by some movie critics are prime proof of the theory that 'professional' movie critics often don't what they're talking about. This is just another fine movie ranked far below what it deserves. 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. 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. While the whole spouse-swapping aspect of the movie is a little hazy, Beverly D'Angelo and Liam Neeson are grand. The effort that the staff makes to haunt the cynical guests is great, in particular the Lady Godiva/Broggan Banshee fiasco.

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. Steve Guttenberg does fine, Daryl Hannah is okay. O'Toole's drunken wisdom and fights with his drunken, ghost-talking mother are great. 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. Peter O'Toole is hysterical in this film, and quite easily, is the glue that holds it together (contrary to popular opinion). He is also the last to realize what the heck is going on. I especially like the goofy interaction between Meg Tilly as the nympho and Peter Gallagher as the soon-to-be Priest. 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. 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. 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. 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). 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. 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. 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. But Plunkett and the gang (nor their furious guests) would ever have imagined real ghosts showing up. No, Plunkett's plan involves a few crappy props and some cheap scare tactics to thrill their small group of American guests. 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. And so, the guests are invited to stay among the spirits of the Plunkett family. 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. The old fashioned castle needs a clever advertising gimmick to entice visitors. Peter Plunkett (Peter O'Toole), and his gang of merry Irishmen are facing foreclosure on their grand castle resort.

High Spirits turned out to be a pretty good comedy.

High spirits cast