'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past' is an old story with a new look

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Lacey Chabert, Michael Douglas, Emma Stone, Anne Archer, Robert Forster
Director: Mark Waters
Rating: ***

Celebrity photographer and confirmed Bachelor Connor Mead  (McConaughey) is the love-them-leave-them type until he begins to see a few ghosts of his former girlfriends on the eve of his brother Paul’s (Breckin Meyer) wedding.

The ghosts in the film help Connor rewind to the past to find out why he is what he is. The process of discovery is not very pleasant though - not for those involved and not for those watching either.

The film is a kind of ‘A Christmas Carol’ set in modern times. Mark Waters helms the film like a sub-standard Hollywood rom-com issue. It’s a path laden with good intentions but it never does translate into a good result.

There are far too many well-worn cliches, the characters are mostly stereotype, the romance is barely evident. McConaughey looks washed out and Garner flashes her gums more often than she does her questionable histrionics.

Only Anne Archer as the bride’s mother and Michael Doughlas as Connor’s ‘role model’ uncle bring some energy into the unimaginatively derived enterprise.