Ghost

Here’s the plot. Patrick Swayze plays Sam Wheat, the ghost. In life, he was madly in love with Molly (Demi Moore). But shortly after moving into their dream home and having hot clay loving, Sam is murdered in a mugging on their way home from a date.

After Sam figures out what he can and can’t do as a ghost, he wanders the streets of New York until he stumbles into a con artist/psychic, Odamae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg). To Odamae’s great shock, she can hear Sam. She helps him communicate with Molly to warn her that his murder was not random.

Is “Ghost” a supernatural fantasy, a suspenseful thriller, a romance, In reality, it has elements of each of these. At the centre is Whoopi Goldberg, who won an Oscar for her performance. Odamae is a difficult role – she’s comic relief during the suspense. She’s down-to-earth when trying to convince Molly that she’s not a fake. In other films, Goldberg is usually either too over the top or the material she is working with is subpar. But here, she’s found a character that shows off how talented she is. It’s also to Swayze’s credit that he interacted so well with Goldberg. While Goldberg is the film’s comic relief, Odamae is so annoyed by Sam’s persistence and stubbornness that she becomes his straight man.

The film as also won a much-deserved Oscar for original screenplay. Likely, the win is for the balance of multiple genres. While “Ghost” transcends category, it does so while telling a good story.