High Spirits (1988)

Pretty Good

Fantastic!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Peter O'Toole is a hoot as the harried owner / operator of a run-down Irish castle. Since he is in dire straits financially, he decides on a gimmick: turn the castle into a ghost-themed tourist attraction. Soon, a bunch of customers from America have turned up, including married couple Jack and Sharon (Steve Guttenberg and Beverly D'Angelo), a parapsychologist (Martin Ferrero) and his family, a young priest (Peter Gallagher), and a ditsy sexpot (the one and only Jennifer Tilly). What happens is that some honest-to-God real ghosts show up, chief among them Mary and Martin (Daryl Hannah and Liam Neeson), who have been re-enacting his murder of her for almost 200 years now.While this viewer is glad that some people do take great pleasure in "High Spirits", he found it a tedious mess often lacking in wit. It has a lot of spirit (pardon the expression) as it devises various frantic and farcical moments, but the material just isn't that great. I couldn't help but feel embarrassed for many of the actors, who frequently have to try too hard to make it all work. (The cast would charge that the producers were the ones that ruined the thing with their meddling and trashing of writer / director Neil Jordans' ("The Crying Game") good intentions.) The visual effects are variable, and production designer Anton Furst ("Batman" '89) creates some generally agreeable sets. A real castle in Ireland was also utilized, and there's some effective atmosphere generated from the location shooting that was done. The wind machine certainly goes full-blast at times.Some actors come off better than others. O'Toole, Neeson, and Ray McAnally (as O'Tooles' ghostly father) are pretty amusing, and as you can see, there are some very lovely ladies on hand. The less said about Guttenberg, the better.Overall, a disappointment, although it does tend to get somewhat better as it goes along.Four out of 10.

This film is generally acknowledged even by its director as a mess - I didn't realise that, according to Neil Jordan, there are the foundations of a better film still in the vault - but watching it over this Halloween I found it better than I remembered it. There are some wonderful, lyrical scenes and settings (f'rinstance, Darryl Hannah's heart-stoppingly beautiful, doomed ghost maiden praying beside a lovely Irish lake before a tree decorated with prayer ribbons in honour of Saint Bridget, a beautiful and memorable scene) but all too many scenes which wouldn't have passed muster in a beginner's class of creative writing. In their prime, Beverly D'Angelo and Darryl Hannah were so hot!The young Darryl Hannah, also in Steve Martin's comedy romance Roxanne only the previous year, was heart-stoppingly gorgeous, as I say. And that bedroom scene between her character and that of Steve Guttenberg - I was astonished I had forgot it - smoked and sizzled; it was positively X-rated!I am glad that the guy gets the girl and that through some magical transformation Hannah's previously doomed madchen doesn't remain a two-hundred year old corpse but was rejuvenated into all her youthful loveliness! Well, true love has it limits!I can't see actor Liam Neeson now, as I am sure many others cannot, without thinking of the tragic death of his wife Natasha Richardson, may she rest in peace.You could see that by 1988 the once gloriously handsome Peter O'Toole had started to lose his looks, ruined not so much by age as hell-raising. Had he lived more soberly, in every sense of the word, he could have been as silvery a silver fox as Cary Grant. But he was still an arch and magisterial presence in the film. I like the line at the end of the film. Happiness makes you better at dancing.

This is just another fine movie ranked far below what it deserves.Reviews of High Spirits by some movie critics are prime proof of the theory that "professional" movie critics often don't what they're talking about. Being quickly panned by British critics, and then dissed by their American colleagues, leads me to believe that many critics write negative reviews based on the opinions of others. In recent years, many critics seem especially to have hidden agendas, or have an axe to grind, or are pandering to special interest groups, which render their reviews worthless. Often, these critics appear to have never seen the movie they are condemning, or, worst still, are ignoring the cinematography and entertainment value based on their own petty bias. In High Spirits, some critics complained that the plot is thin, flighty and lacks realism?!?! But this is a comedy (and a very good one at that), not a serious theatrical work like as play by Shakespeare or some other artsy-f**tsy piece for the pseudo-intellectual snobs. While not perfect, it is certainly not the complete waste of time that some of these so-called critics claim it to be.The fact is, folks, this movie is very entertaining, a real joy, from the story, to the acting, to the sets, to the special effects, etc., etc. just a pleasure (albeit a guilty one) of movie entertainment. The entire cast give an exuberant, high spirited performance (pun intended) which is sure to tickle your funny bone. Peter O'Toole is hilarious as the penny-less, hereditary keeper of the castle who is about to lose it all. But Liz Smith is a riot, playing Peter's tipsy, widowed mother who still interacts (read has sexual relations) with her dead husband and communicates with other deceased family members. Liz Smith is a thief - she steals just about every scene in which she appears. A horny Steve Guttenberg, an unfaithful Beverly D'Angelo, a rapidly decaying Daryl Hannah and a flatulent Liam Neeson give excellent performances. The pious Peter Gallagher and temptress Jennifer Tilly are terrific in supporting roles as are the remainder of the cast, who are mainly from Dublin's Abbey Theatre, except for Connie Booth (who played the housekeeper Polly Shearman in Fawlty Towers), who is an American.Please ignore the critics on this one, folks, they are way off. This is a very funny movie, with a few semi-scary moments, that I can highly recommend to you. If you want classical drama, watch Hamlet or Otello, but if you want hardy chuckles, watch High Spirits. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.Rating: 8/10 stars

This is entertaining from both theatrical and cinematic point of view. It's a very rare time to witness the comic side of director (Neil Jordan) the guy who would direct later a chain of very serious and cheerless films in the 1990s like for instances Interview with the Vampire (1994), Michael Collins (1996), or The End of the Affair (1999). So to perfect such a fantastic romantic comedy as cheery, tumultuous and simple as this, is something really wired and historical for him.Actually it's more like an old ghost story collides with any wacky comedy from the 1930s' cinema, yet achieving an originality that makes it one of the 1980s' nicest flicks. The cast was perfect. Forget that (Darryl Hannah) was at her worst, because even that can't take from the movie's high light personality. The wonderful showy efforts of (Peter O'Toole) accorded with this atmosphere and harmonized with it. He was loose as the defeated miserable drunken Peter Plunkett, adding a tasty flavor to the character's bitterly sarcastic way, being a treat to watch apart since there are not many comedic precedents in (O'Toole)'s career. Btw, I refuse to accept the dim-witted remarks about him here as he was playing himself. Because aside from that as something I don't buy, he was too good in his role to be a miserable defeated actor by all means.The comedy is swift, the pace is crazy, and the sets are inspiring. There is a certain delight and bright sense all over the movie. The sexiness is over-the-top with mega-gorgeous babes : (Beverly D'Angelo) was outrageously sexy, (Jennifer Tilly) isn't bad herself, and even an extra by the name of (Hilary Reynolds), who played near to silent maid, fascinated me utterly. It even managed to have a genuine tender message as well about true love and how it brings life to everyone and everything around. I liked the frisky end where every soul met its fair match. Makes you wish : if life was like this ! There are sensitive bits, or so droll to cartonnish extent, that push me to rethink : who was exactly the man that directed the list of movies that I mentioned previously ?!! (Jordan) himself has always maintained that the released version of this movie is very different from the one he shot, insisting that his version is still locked away in a vault. According to long experience with (Jordan)'s other works (in fact all of them !), I say keep it in the vault, this one is satisfying as it is. Thanks to the funny spirit whoever made it anyway. Because when it comes to an entertaining movie, I find nothing to ask more than what this one has.