Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

One might think that after such fiascos as Failure to Launch and Fool's Gold, Matthew McConaughey would have hesitated before accepting the role of Connor Mead, who's no different than the lunkheads he's played in his last few vapid romcoms. Connor is a bed-hopping, marriage-hating fashion photographer whose checkered past catches up with him—in a spectral sense, that is—when he arrives at a country estate for the wedding of his adoring younger brother (Breckin Meyer). The chief bridesmaid is Jenny Perotti (Jennifer Garner), Connor's first and most significant girlfriend. On the night of the rehearsal dinner, the hedonist shutterbug is visited by three ghosts (sound familiar?): his randy uncle (Michael Douglas), a high-school fling (Emma Stone), and—puzzlingly—his still-alive assistant (Noureen DeWulf), who together point out the error of his ways. You don't need to be Jeane Dixon to guess how it all turns out. Other talented cast members wasted on this tripe include Lacey Chabert as the neurotic bride and Robert Forster and Anne Archer as her estranged parents. The latter suffers the indignity of being groped by McConaughey's character, who suspects her of being a well-stacked spirit and grabs her breast just to satisfy his curiosity: that's pretty much the comic plane on which director Mark Waters' Ghosts of Girlfriends Past exists. Not recommended. [Note: Although the DVD release is extra-less, Blu-ray extras include additional scenes (10 min.), a “Recreating the Past, Imagining the Future” behind-the-scenes featurette (9 min.), “The Legends, the Lessons and the Ladies” featurette on costars Matthew McConaughey and Michael Douglas (8 min.), an “It's All About Connor” featurette on McConaughey's character (4 min.), a bonus digital copy of the film, and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a solid Blu-ray extras package for a disappointing film.] (E. Hulse)