Film Review: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

My mom and I went to see this movie last Saturday afternoon. It was a good, romantic comedy film.

We both love Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner, so were glad they were in this movie together.

We loved and enjoyed this movie.


Here's my review of ...

Warning: Slight Spoilers within!

Ghost of Girlfriends Past (2009)

starring: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Lacey Chabert, Breckin Meyer



Watch the trailer for Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

[source: USFVids]

I thought this movie was pretty good and funny. I actually enjoyed watching this one more than Jennifer Garner's husband Ben Affleck's (with another Jennifer...Aniston that is) He's Just Not That into You flick. Matthew McConaughey as Connor Mead and Jennifer Garner as Jenny Perroti (how interesting that she was playing another similar name to her real life name...) were great and have this cute on-screen chemistry in this movie. The rest of the cast were great too. Not too mention, Lacey Chabert was very funny as Sandra, an over-excited and at times angry/Bridezilla-like/bride-to-be to Connor's younger brother Paul, played by the awesome Breckin Meyer. I laughed a lot on her scenes (she was very funny in Mean Girls too...though I think she looks a lot older here than her age 'cause Jen Garner's much older than her, yet she looked younger than Lacey, lol). Sandra's dad, played by Robert Forster (aka Arthur Petrelli of Heroes) was funny himself. He cracked me up with his military talks, lol. The story and plot is nothing new, of course (much like 17 Again and Obsessed, lol) 'cause this one reminded me of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol and Nicholas Cage's movie, The Family Man (very good movie). Despite its derived and similar plot ghosts from the past type of thing, this movie was pretty good. It had a lot of funny moments as well as sad moments. MM was funny and so sexy looking as ladies man and famous photographer Connor Mead, even his southern accent was sexy...it was nice staring at him ...i mean his [close-up] yummy-to-look-at-clean-cut-shaven-face on screen, lol. Jen Garner as Jenny, a doctor, was pretty good herself. She looked beautiful in this movie too. I must say, I love Jennifer Garner (she's one of my Favorite Actresses and I loved her role in her old tv series Alias and her 13 Going on 30 movie) and I thought she's one of those few underrated actresses who is always great to see in this type of movies in Hollywood. It was nice to see her doing one of the best things she does best and that's being in a romantic comedy film like this. What I found the most interesting though was the younger actress who played the young teen Jenny. She reminded me of the same girl who played her younger version in 13 Going on 30, 5 years ago. Perhaps, they're the same actress 'cause she looked exactly like her and has the same physical resemblance to Jen's older Jenny character.

Hmm...let's see... *does a quick google search to find out for sure, lol.*

Ok, I just looked her up (on IMDB), the younger actress Christa B. Allen, who played the teenage Jenny...and wow, I was so right...she was the same actress who played the younger Jenna in 13 Going on 30. I knew she looked so familiar. It's very interesting to know that she has played the younger Jennifer Garner twice in both Jen's movies (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and 13 Going on 30) 'cause she does look so much like Jen Garner. It's cool too that they got her to play the younger Garner version again. I thought that was a great casting choice. I can actually buy the resemblance of her and Jen's younger and older versions as they look so much alike, unlike in 17 Again, I just don't see Matthew Perry and Zac Efron looking similar, lol. Not too mention, she played teenage Jenny here and young Jenna in 13 Going on 30...almost similar names as well...how cool and interesting was that? lol. Speaking of Jen Garner and her younger look-a-like Christa B. Allen, check out this side-by-side photo of them (to your left) or here: Jennifer Garner and Christa B. Allen (Jennifer and Christa when they both attended the Los Angeles Premiere of Sony's "13 Going On 30" - After Party in April 14, 2004...or see their pics I've compiled into a wallpaper image and click it to enlarge...scroll down a lil' further below!)... Another interesting thing I noticed was that there was another similarities between teenage Jenny and young Jenna in both movies. From what I remember, she looked like she was wearing similar outfits from both dances of these movies. Also, there was that scene where Jenny and Connor were at the teen party in that basement, and Connor upsets Jenny by ignoring her. The basement (from what I recall, but do correct me if I'm wrong, lol...) looks EXACTLY like the one they used for Jenna's 13th birthday party in 13 Going on 30. The staircase looks so similar too. I felt like I was watching these 2 movies at the same time or should I say, 2 movies in one, in terms of the flashback parts where the teenage Jenny in this movie was shown, lol.

Anyways, back to the present parts of this movie. I thought it was pretty good and funny. I was pleasantly surprised that I actually laughed a lot and cried (during the sad moments) in this movie. Also, It got even better and funnier as the story moved along. I loved the odd romantic comedy part of this film, the engagement and wedding scenes were funny, the wedding cake scene with Connor trying to save it from falling was hilarious, lol. Not too mention Sandra's reaction when she saw the messed up cake was priceless, haha!
Jennifer and Matthew as Jenny & Connor were so cute and adorable here even the younger actors who played their younger selves. Michael Douglas himself was good and funny as Connor's playboy Uncle Wayne who was teaching teenage Connor how to be like him...that was so wrong, yet so funny at the same time, lol. I thought everyone did a great job in this movie. The acting (from the main to supporting actors), story (even though it's been done several times and nothing new, but towards the end, it was actually (or rather slightly) different than the others and had its own nice ending), the visuals, and the direction were all great.

Overall, I must say, this movie was great. I highly recommend this movie for those who love romantic comedy films and most esp. those of you who are fans of Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner. These two alone were worth watching, at least for me and my mother, they were. We really loved and enjoyed watching this movie.


My Ghosts of Girlfriends Past Film Rating: ! (8.5/10; B+)