The Internet hate fest for Matthew McConaughey reached its nadir this past week, with one blogger calling the dude “Satan.”
But give the devil his due. Whatever it is about him that so gets under some folks’ skin, he’s well-practiced at playing the cocksure ladies’ man, turning “Failure to Launch” and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” into perfectly serviceable romances.
“Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” is the best of the bunch, a romantic “Christmas Carol,” with McConaughey starring as a won’t-commit heel of a fashion photographer who goes through supermodels the way banks go through stimulus money. He’s so oversexed and overbooked that he has to break up “in bulk” — three women dumped by conference call.
But the wedding of his brother (Breckin Meyer) drags Connor Mead back to the family estate, back to where he learned his womanizing ways from his late Uncle Wayne, back to the girl he let get away.
Jennifer Garner is perfectly cast as Connor’s first love, the one he fled because she’s on to him. “Run along, Connor. I’m sure there’s a bridesmaid waiting to be partially satisfied!”
Garner makes the perfect woman you don’t trifle with. She’s for keeps.
If Mr. “Love is a myth!” doesn’t get the message, there’s the ghost of Uncle Wayne to put him through one haunting night of life’s lessons. Uncle Wayne is played by Michael Douglas at his lounge lizard best.
“Dutch,” he tells the kid in one ghostly visit to the past, “you don’t want to be anybody’s first kiss. Or last kiss.”
Director Mark Waters (“Mean Girls”) keeps this zipping along, at least until Connor starts tripping through his past, led by his “first” (Emma Stone). The wedding he’s sabotaging, the banter with the ex- girlfriend, all sidetracked as we meet the forgettable mile markers in Connor’s life.
But “Ghosts” finishes well, and the familiar McConaughey heel- grows-a-heart story arc is engaging. It’s the supporting players, from Garner and Douglas to Anne Archer (cougar mom of the bride), who have the best lines and help make McConaughey convincing in his journey from devil-may-care to a devil who does care.
“Ghosts of Girlfriends Past”
PG-13 for sexual content, some language and a drug reference. 1 hour, 55 minutes. Directed by Mark Waters; written by Scott Moore and John Lucas; starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Breckin Meyer, Lacey Chabert, Emma Stone, Robert Forster, Anne Archer and Michael Douglas. Opens today at area theaters.
