High Spirits
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Movie Reviews of High Spirits
Movie Review: VERY FUNNY!
Summary: 4 Stars
A great cast and script make this one of my favorite movies. Very refreshing story line.Movie Review: High Spirits
Summary: 4 Stars
Very pleased with dvd Had been looking for this a long time
Thank you Amazon
Movie Review: High Spirits -- Fun w/ Peter O'Toole
Summary: 3 Stars
This movie was panned by every critic at the time of it's release, and rightly so; it is not a 'serious piece of cinema'. I was attracted to this movie only because it featured Peter O'Toole and I wasn't disappointed on that count. O'Toole plays a wonderful 'drunk-yet-erudite' descendant of an ancient Irish family that runs a rather delapidated hotel that is the family castle. The movie revolves around O'Toole's character's attempt to hold on to the family castle by advertising it as a haunted hotel and enlists the staff/villagers in a ridiculous attempt to play "...ghosties,ghoulies and beasties". The story evolves as the first group of guests arrive. Steve Guttenberg plays the husband of a shrew of a wife,Beverly D'Angelo. Daryl Hannah plays the murdered ancestor of O'Toole and Liam Neeson plays the murderous husband - both are ghosts that have been destined to relive the murder night after night. The supporting cast are the real stars along with O'Toole. Liam Neeson makes a decent ghost though his character isn't in the film near enough.
All in all this is a very light-hearted movie that is worth watching for O'Toole, if you can stand Steven Guttenberg and Daryl Hannah who are given way too much screen time.
There is a bit of profanity in the beginning during a phone conversation between O'Toole's character and the mogul that is calling in the mortgage on the castle. There are mild references to sex and there is a good bit of drinking.
Movie Review: light hearted story
Summary: 3 Stars
Whimsical, romantic, sometimes funny. Older movie but can hold its own in todays world for those who want to watch something that the whole family can watch.Movie Review: The Corn's Even Higher
Summary: 2 Stars
"High Spirits," (1988), an English-American, comedy/romance co-production, comes relatively early in the career of Neil Jordan, Irish-born filmmaker. Still, it follows the superb, fully-adult "Mona Lisa," and Jordan both wrote and directed it -- though he claims he was not allowed the final cut on it -- so he's gotta take the responsibility for it, seems to some of us.
The picture is nicely situated in Castle Dromore, Askeaton, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland. It concerns an ancient castle owned by Peter Plunkett, that's failing in his effort to make it into a hotel. So he decides to advertise it as haunted, and drills his staff into their ghostly roles, without, apparently, quite realizing that the castle has ghosts enough as is. O'Toole is backed by a well-known cast, and even the supporting players' faces will be familiar to anyone who sees a lot of Irish films.
Liz Smith plays Mrs. Plunkett, Peter's mother; and the never-fail Ray McAnally plays his late father, to whom she reckons she is still married, as he shows up quite a bit; between them they steal every scene they are in. Steve Guttenberg plays second male lead, Jack Crawford: he's a mistake, he never was that good a comic actor. Beverly D'Angelo plays his wife, Sharon Brogan Crawford: considering as director and leading lady met on this film, and had a thing for a while, the part's not very kind to her. Daryl Hannah is oddly miscast as ghost Mary Plunkett Brogan. Liam Neeson -- did he ever lay claim to comedy ?-- is overly made-up and coiffed as her ghostly husband, Martin Brogan; he keeps calling the noticeably tall, long-legged Hannah a "wee" harlot. Peter Gallagher, never really a good comic actor either, plays third male lead, Brother Tony, apparently soon to take his priestly vows.. Jennifer Tilly, of the exotic half-Chinese looks and the distinctive voice, has little to do as Miranda, his love interest. Connie Booth, unforgettable as Polly in the British Broadcasting Company's everlastingly hilarious television series "Fawlty Towers" -- she was married to its star/author John Cleese at the time -- has even less to do as Marge, married to this film's ghost-buster.
What interests me about the film is that it follows Jordan's pattern: men craving inappropriate love objects. The supposed-to-be-alive Guttenberg character falls in love with the supposed-to-be-dead Daryl Hannah character. The supposed- to-be-dead Liam Neeson character falls in love with the supposed-to-be-alive D'Angelo character(she must be a great-great niece or something). Gallagher's character falls in love with Tilley's character, and we know he shouldn't. Everybody has been encouraged to wildly overact, and a lot of scenery gets chewed, particularly by O'Toole. These actors have never turned in less-disciplined performances, and, frankly, the movie's a mess. (Aside to an IMdB reviewer: yes, I too saw a piece of essential, black "equipment" dangling near the rear of that white stallion).