- Directed by Jerry Zucker
- Written by Bruce Joel Rubin
- Stars Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn, Whoopi Goldberg
- Run Time: 2 Hours, 7 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uubih798tg
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This is definitely more of a romance and drama, but it’s got plenty of ghosts and some grim, disturbing moments. But mostly it’s a bittersweet romance. It was an award winner at the time, and it still holds up well today. It’s long, but very entertaining. It’s got a great script and cast. We still like it.
Spoilery Synopsis
We open on Sam, Molly, and Carl, breaking out an old ceiling in their new place. There’s a huge room beyond a wall with a bunch of old stuff. There’s quite a remodeling going on.
Later, Carl and Sam walk through the city and talk about business. They prank a bunch of people in the elevator by pretending to be sick and contagious. There’s some last-minute rush with some financial transfers, and then Sam goes into a meeting at the bank where he works.
Some time has passed, and Sam and Molly have almost finished redecorating their apartment. Sam says things are going really well, and he doesn’t want to lose it all. Later that night, Molly does pottery, and she’s messy. Seeing how messy she is, Sam helps, but very little pottery happens.
The next morning, Sam finds a glitch in the computer and mentions it to Carl. “There’s too much money in these accounts,” he says. That night, Sama and Molly go to the theater. On the way home, while they talk about getting married, a robber jumps out to mug them. Sam tries to fight, and the mugger shoots him. Except– he’s standing right there next to Molly and his own corpse. Sam is now a ghost.
Sam freaks out; he can’t touch anything. A bright light appears above him, but he’s not ready to go into it. The ambulance comes for Sam, but there’s nothing they can do. We see Sam following Molly around, not knowing what to do. An old man comes over and asks him if he’s new at this; he’s a ghost too. The old man is there waiting for his wife to die. We see the bright light come for another dying man. “It could have been the other ones,” the old man warns. Then he vanishes.
Some time passes, and Sam attends his own funeral. Carl is there to comfort Molly. Molly says she can still feel Sam. She has no idea that he’s really there– but the cat senses him. Sam is in the apartment when the killer comes inside, looking for something. Sam tries but can’t even touch the guy, much less stop him. He does use the cat, startling it to jump at the guy, who flees before Molly notices him there. Sam follows him when he leaves on the subway. On the train, he encounters another ghost, and this guy is crazily territorial about “his” train. He learns that the killer’s name is Willie Lopez and that Willie is working for someone.
Sam goes to see a psychic, Oda Mae Brown. Her whole operation is just a scam, and Sam says as much. Oda Mae actually can hear Sam somehow, so she’s not a complete fraud. There are some comic hijinks as Sam terrifies the woman and pesters her until she agrees to help. Sam wants Oda Mae to call Molly to warn her about Willie.
Oda Mae contacts Molly, who’s very skeptical. Sam and Molly have a conversation relayed through the psychic. He gives her Willie’s address and says it was all a setup– he was murdered. Oda Mae doesn’t want to be involved in all that and storms out.
Molly tells Carl the whole story, and he thinks it’s all some kind of scam. To calm her down, Carl agrees to go to Willie’s place to check it out. Sam, of course, follows. Sam is shocked to learn that Carl is the guy who hired Willie. He was just supposed to steal Sam’s stuff, not actually kill him, but things got out of hand. Carl needs the passwords and codes that are in Sam’s address book to unlock millions of dollars. Carl is in deep trouble with bad guys who are going to kill him if he doesn’t come through.
Elsewhere, Molly talks to the police about Willie Lopez, but the detective looks up all the charges against Oda Mae, a well-known con artist. Meanwhile, Carl gets the codes from Molly’s shoebox and they work just fine. His contact tells him to merge all the little accounts into one big one for final transfer soon. Sam manages to overhear what’s going on and sees the fake name that Carl is putting all the money under.
Carl comes to see Molly to apologize for not believing about the crazy psychic. Carl says he feels so bad about Sam’s death, and he’s having trouble adjusting. Maybe Molly could comfort him just a little? Maybe make some pots together? Just as the two are about to get it on, Sam manages to physically knock over a picture frame.
Remembering how the ghost on the train broke a window, Sam searches for that guy on the subway again. The angry ghost causes all kinds of disturbances as he tries to fight Sam, but Sam won’t give up. Eventually, the guy shows Sam how to move things with his mind alone. Sam’s not good at it, but he knows with practice, he’ll improve.
Sam returns to see Oda Mae, who now has real ghosts lined out the door to talk to her now that she can hear them all. An annoyed ghost jumps inside Oda Mae, possessing her, which she isn’t having and forces him right back out. Afterward, the ghost is almost too exhausted to move. The others laugh about how possessing a person wipes them out for a while. Oda Mae throws out everyone except Sam. Willie comes in to kill her, but Sam warns her in time. When the bullets start flying, Oda Mae is more than willing to help Sam with his plan.
Oda Mae and Sam go to the bank and do some account things. They talk to Lyle Ferguson, a guy Sam knows, and Sam prompts her to ask all the appropriate questions. She’s there to withdraw the four million dollars, impersonating the person that Carl made up and getting a cashier’s check. On the way out of the bank, Molly spots Oda Mae. When Carl goes to check his money laundering account, the balance is zero and the account is closed. Sam has Oda Mae endorse the check and donate it to some nuns.
Later, Sam watches Carl battle the computer, but there’s nothing Carl can do to get the money back. Sam types “Murderer” on the computer. Carl knows it’s Sam and goes to see Molly, who mentions seeing Oda Mae at the bank today. Now Carl knows who took his money. “Give me the money or I’ll kill Molly,” Carl threatens.
Sam warns Oda Mae that killers are coming for her, and they hide before Carl and Willie show up shooting. Sam uses his new ability to move things to terrorize Willie, who runs outside and is hit by a car. Sam watches as Willie’s spirit rises out of his body, just like his own did. This time, instead of the white light, black shadow monsters grab Willie and drag him to Hell.
Oda Mae goes to try talking to Molly again, and convinces her that she’s for real again. Sam uses a penny to prove to Molly that he’s real too. Molly calls the police, and they wait. Sam and Molly still can’t touch, so Oda Mae says it’s OK if Sam possesses her to use her body. Oda Mae/Sam takes Molly’s hand and they can touch one last time.
Then Carl bangs on the door and breaks things up. Molly and Oda Mae go out the fire escape, and Carl chases them. Sam is too weak from possessing Oda Mae to do anything, so he follows helplessly. Carl chases the girls through the under-construction areas of the buildings. The three end up fighting; Carl wants his money back.
Sam arrives on the scene, but Carl takes Molly hostage. Strenght returned, Sam beats the crap out of Carl. Carl accidentally gets impaled by some glass and dies.
Carl’s spirit rises up as we’ve seen before. He looks at Sam, who knows what’s coming. The moaning shadows come for Carl, and it’s not pretty.
For some reason, Molly can now hear Sam and see him too. The white light reappears for Sam, and his business is done. Molly and Oda Mae both watch as he says goodbye and vanishes into the light.
Commentary
Calling this a horror film is definitely a stretch, but it’s definitely a ghost story, and those black shadow things are totally nightmare-worthy, so we’ll let it into the club.
It’s really smart in how it shows us the “rules” for being a ghost without a lot of talking.
It’s a long movie, at over two hours, but it’s paced really well and doesn’t slow down at all. The acting is great all around, and it has a very memorable soundtrack. The special effects are a bit tame by today’s standards, but they’re minimal enough not to detract from the story.
It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Film Editing, and Best music. It won for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Whoopi Goldberg. It also won Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for Bruce Joel Rubin.