Blithe Spirit

I find this comedy funny and delightful. The characters are fun and lovely. The colours are vibrant, and the tone is light. I really enjoyed it.

Any time we see a movie, we have to suspend disbelief in order to get into the fictional world of a film (that's not a documentary). The huge problem with Blithe Spirit is that much of it was so unbelievable as to make it almost impossible to suspend disbelief and therefore impossible to watch.

Basically, the main theme of this version of Noel Coward's play, is that after the main male character's deceased ex-wife is summoned forth from a medium who's supposed to be a fraud (Judi Dench), said deceased ex-wife sets out to get between her former husband and his now (living) wife. For me, the big problem here was that the husband, a crime-writer, acts in such a stupid and irrational way that the whole film just seems ridiculous. Plus, the former wife, played to the hilt by Leslie Mann, was a stereotype of the vengeful scorned wife, even though anyone who is rational would recognize that that's not what she really was.

Specifically, once he has "seen" the ghost of his former wife and realizes others don't see her, he should have altered his behavior accordingly. Instead he keeps repeating the same moronic behavior over and over which just served to make me angry. Did the director and/or scriptwriter really think an audience would go for this?

Despite this major flaw, the film was visually engaging and busy enough to keep me watching despite my annoyance.

Blithe Sprit

So many reviews on here fail to just get it, this play/farce was written by Noel Coward, in 1941 as an antidote to WW2 and presented on the West End stage. Noel Coward very much in the style of Oscar Wilde writes light whimsical repartee between the characters and it really is a celebration of language.

This movie, set in the 1937, just does not tick the boxes that light up modern audiences. This is a most unfair way to judge it, the plot was well executed, the acting crisp, with a light touch delivery was really quite splendid.

It your looking for a car chase, criminal masterminds and superheroes in spandex look elsewhere.

I'm giving this a jolly well done 7

I have never seen the original play or movie, so I'm not making a comparison. I think the main problem of this movie is that it lacks in rhythm. It felt too long despite being only an hour and a half. However, I still had a good time watching it. There are some true laugh-out-loud moments and everyone gives a good comedic performance. Also, the costumes and sets are gorgeous. Apparently, there have been a lot of changes from the original story, but I thought this story was good. My rhythm issue came more from some of the dialogue and the editing, I think. You won't be wasting your time watching it, but don't expect a masterpiece.

I didn't laugh even once. It wasn't even a dark comedy. There simply weren't any jokes in it. Like, none. The production value is top notch and the acting is pretty good but that's about all there is to it. The story is quite boring actually. Nothing original. Judy Dench is great of course.