Review by Bob Ignizio
There is no mistaking A
GHOST STORY for anything other than a modern indie film. One that, at
times, threatens to drown in its own cutesy conceits. From the moment I saw the
film’s trailer, which made clear that its “ghost” would be someone wearing a
sheet with two eyeholes, I was prepared for the worst. Said
trailer was also scored with falseotto-voiced modern indie rock (“I Get Overwhelmed”
by Dark Rooms).
Let’s just say not my favorite kind of music, and an
indication that this wasn't going to be my favorite kind of movie, either. Other grating affectations noticed early
on seemed to confirm those feelings: the movie is shot in a 4:3 ratio, has very
little dialogue, and goes for a dingy, subdued color palette that seems
designed to call to mind a faded Polaroid from the seventies.
Just a few minutes in, and I was ready to hate this movie.
But by the end, A GHOST STORY
managed to win me over. It’s not going to wind up in my top ten for the year, but
I liked it.
This is not a movie where the cast matters much. Our stars
are, ostensibly, a bearded Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara as an unnamed couple
living in a rental home that’s seen better days. Affleck spends most of the movie under the
sheet (or maybe his stand-in does, I'm not sure – seems a waste to have him under there when he
doesn’t even say anything) and Mara exits the film by the end of its first
third, coming back for a few scenes near the end.
The real star is writer/director David Lowery (PETE’S DRAGON, AIN’T THEM BODIES SAINTS). This is a movie that is far more
concerned with intriguing themes presented in an artful style than it is with
plot and character. Because of that, it occasionally falls prey to the indie
excesses I was dreading. At times it recalls Terrence Malick at his most self-indulgent,
but on a smaller, more personal scale, and filtered through a younger point of
view. Eventually, though, I found myself just going with it.
Somehow, despite all the potentially annoying affectations, A GHOST STORY manages to be almost as
profound as it thinks it is. And it has an interesting take on the whole
life/death thing that feels nihilistic, but in a positive way. Of course, this
is very much the kind of film that different people will take different things
away from, and that’s okay. And if you still find the whole exercise
pretentious and annoying, that’s understandable, too.
If nothing else, though, this is a movie we haven’t seen
before. It’s thoughtful, heartfelt, and made with a sure artistic vision. 3 out
of 4 stars.
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