Lazy Man Review: Ghosts of Girlfriend's Past

Disclaimer: The Lazy Man Review is the type of review you would give your buddy at a bar, wife over the dinner table, or mistress during pillow talk. More about what you remember, rather than looking back and proving your thesis with ground breaking research.

Rankings: 3.5/5 - on the scale of 5 being When Harry Met Sally and 1 being anything involving Ashton Kutcher or Gigli.

I am a sucker for a good rom-com. That immediately strips me of my imaginary manhood badge - which long time friends nod and wonder if I had one in the first place. I can live with that. Why do I love rom-coms? A good rom-com increases the wife happiness, snuggleness, and the likeliness of [redacted in case Sienna reads this someday.] At worse I get to make snarky comments.

Ghosts of Girlfriend's Past is take off of a Christmas Carol. Though Matthew McConaughey doesn't have anything particularly scrooge-like about him so the comparison with a Christmas Carol begins with "there are ghosts" and ends with "there are three of them."

This movie has a who's who cast of awesomeness. Breckin Meyer as Matt's brother, including a bit of a southern accent; Michael Douglas doing a fantastic Jack Nicholson imitation, Jennifer Garner as herself, Emma Stone stealing every scene she is in, Party of Five's Lacey Chabert - which adds an automatic 1/2 star to any movie, and the sexy guy from Grey's Anatomy. Matt also adds another star to any movie since he really can sell any part he is in - see Sahara - to where you silently nod in agreement that you actually like him.

The writing of this movie is surprisingly plausible as the characters play (mostly) to the top of their intelligence (fixing the broken wedding cake is dumb) and actually have motivation. That is where most rom-coms fail - you wonder why ANYONE would like the main lead.

Matt isn't exactly like that - okay past the first five minutes where you wonder why no one has executed him yet - though the plot gets around to the point really fast that he and Garner have a past history. Yay! Always important. Matt has realistically been hurt by her, thusly making a lot of his behavior semi-justified.

Look, we know how the movie is going to end. It is the getting there that matters. The scenes with Douglas are brilliantly disturbing in that truths he extols on how to pick up women. It is like a thousand tiny truisms (maybe ten, give me a break) sprinkled into the film.

Well worth recording on cable - like I did - and watching it with a loved one. If for anything else for Matt as a 90s sex-symbol who Garner calls out.

Wayne