A Ghost Story

Starring: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara
Directed by: David Lowery
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A ghost returns home to his grieving wife (Rooney Mara).

Review:

Tim: I was looking forward to A Ghost Story. I'd heard good things and was excited about seeing this unconventional, challenging film. After seeing it, there are certainly things I can appreciate about this unique movie. However, I can't claim to have enjoyed the movie all that much. The film is never as interesting as it believes itself to be, and the long takes where nothing happens eventually get boring. The result is that it's surprisingly exhausting to sit through this relatively short film. While there are certainly strengths, this is not a movie I'd be interested in returning to watch again. Once was enough.

I understand that this movie is a really an exploration, a meditation- on loss, love, time, death, and life. Those are all essential aspects of the human experience and are worth pausing to reflect on. That's certainly the best part of the movie- watching this slow, glacial story develop gives you plenty of time to meditate on what the film is trying to tell us. Some of the themes and ideas are easily accessible. Some were harder to grasp. It was interesting, because while watching the film, I often thought, "Okay, I understand what director David Lowery is doing here." And yet, despite my understanding, despite connecting with at least most of what he was trying to say, I still felt bored and disengaged. I have to admit that much of the time, I was able to stay more focused than I typically would because I had high hopes for a big payoff at the end. The story does eventually take an interesting turn, but the circularity of time isn't quite as powerful as the movie believes it to be. I firmly believe there was a way to tell this same story, touches on the same themes, without being so pretentious in the presentation of it.

Now, one of the cool things about this film is that the experience of watching it is pretty unique. It's not a horror film, but there is something oddly unsettling about seeing a ghost in a white bed sheet just standing around where other people can't see him. I never felt scared watching this film, but I felt somewhat uneasy. I appreciate Lowery's ability to elicit that emotional response. Watching this film was an odd experience- you felt unsettled, but also bored. There was some curiosity about where the story was going, but there was also a struggle to stay focused and engaged. The most memorable aspect of this film is just what it was like to watch it. Unfortunately, while that experience was unique, it wasn't exactly enjoyable, and the payoff at the end of the movie didn't cover the cost of watching it.

Casey Affleck was fine in it. He doesn't have a ton to do. Rooney Mara was good, but again, there's not a ton for her to do on screen (although her ability to eat an entire pie in one sitting while being filmed is astounding). This film is less about performances and more about deep, metaphysical thoughts.

I'm all for ambitious attempts, and to be fair, there really isn't anything like A Ghost Story. I appreciated that aspect of the film. However, I wanted this movie to rock me, to make me feel something, to make me contemplate the themes and the ideas for days. It didn't happen. The movie is interesting, but not nearly good enough.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



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