High Spirits
by Neil Jordan
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Donal McCann, Liz Smith, Mary Coughlan, Peter O'Toole, Tom HickeyDirector: Neil Jordan
Brand: GUTTENBERG,STEVE
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-06-04
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of High Spirits
Movie Review: Meant to be a ghost story, but tried to be a romantic comedy
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't get me wrong - the movie is still great. But it would have been better for me if they had cast somebody other than Steve Guttenberg in a leading role - Steve Guttenberg will forever be the goofy nutcake in Police Academy just like Jack Palance shouldn't try to be a smooth talking ladies man at a disco club. Daryl Hannah was great in Splash with Tom Hanks, but I would rather have seen whoever did the casting put Gwyneth Paltrow or Kirsten Dunst in Daryl Hannah's spot, and David Spade or Andrew McCarthy in the spot mistakenly given to Steve Guttenberg. Guttenberg just doesn't help this movie. Of course if they could have cast Eva Longoria or Teri Hatcher in Daryl Hannah's spot and then cast Tom Hanks or Orlando Bloom in the role opposite them, well you could have made millions. I bought this DVD because Peter O'Toole is versatile enough to be convincing, and because I liked the trailers showing the antiquated Irish castle used to make this film. I have heard and read that Daryl Hannah took a lot of bad hits for this movie and I would like to say I adored her in this film - in my opinion it was Steve Guttenberg that should have been ashamed. Even Liam Neeson in the role of a villain ghost was a better fit than Steve Guttenberg. Anyway there is a sequel in the works (coming out 2011?) and I for one intend to check it out too, just like I dared to undertake the adventure of seeing this 1988 movie said to be a flop - but I enjoyed it. 'High Spirits' turned out to be worth having for me even if damn few other folks felt that way. I say buy this DVD, you will be entertained and the movie is actually pretty well done even if Steve Guttenberg did try to ruin it.
Summary of High Spirits
Daryl Hannah, Peter O'Toole and Steve Guttenberg star in this gleefully ghoulish comedy sparkling with romance and rollicking with supernatural special effects. Written and directed by Neil Jordan (Interview With the Vampire) and co-starring Beverly D'Angelo, Jennifer Tilly, Peter Gallagher and Liam Neeson, High Spirits is the most fun you'll have in this world or the next!Impoverished Peter Plunkett (O'Toole) hatches the perfect plan to save his debt-ridden Irish castle: lure American tourists by advertising the place as haunted. But when Peter and his staff don sheets and chains to go a-haunting, they scare up more than paying guests'they arouse the real ghosts of Castle Plunkett! And when American tourist Jack (Guttenberg) spies a gorgeous ghost named Mary (Hannah), it's love at first sighting. Now all Jack has to worry about is Mary's murderous spook of a husband and their 200-year age difference!Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia, My Favorite Year) gives an exuberant performance in High Spirits. Peter Plunkett (O'Toole) hopes to save his mortgaged castle by turning it into a tourist attraction--the most haunted castle in Ireland. When American tourists arrive--among them Jack (Steve Guttenberg) and Sharon (Beverly D'Angelo), a couple whose marriage is rapidly disintegrating--Plunkett's tomfoolery arouses the real ghosts, who decide to give these interlopers everything they're asking for. But when Jack accidentally helps a beautiful ghost named Mary (Daryl Hannah), she decides he's the man to help her break the curse she's been suffering for 200 years. High Spirits is an odd foray into comedy by director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire). The special effects are clumsy, but the strong supporting cast includes Jennifer Tilly, Peter Gallagher, and Liam Neeson as Mary's murderous 200-year-old husband. --Bret Fetzer
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