Ghosted – Review

Directed by:Dexter Fletcher

Produced by:David Ellison,Dana Goldberg,Don Granger,Jules Daly,Chris Evans,Rhett Reese,Paul,Wernick

Starring:Chris Evans,Ana de Armas

Cinematography:Salvatore Totino

Edited by:Chris Lebenzon,Jim May’Josh Schaeffer

Music by:Lorne Balfe

Release date:April 21, 2023

Language:English

Ghosted is a romantic comedy action-adventure film directed by Dexter Fletcher and written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers, from a story by Reese and Wernick.The film stars Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. Produced by Apple Studios and Skydance Media.

So much of “Ghosted” depends on the its-in-our-DNA familiarity with spy action films and conspiracy thrillers, allowing the screenplay  to take short cuts and logic leaps over far-fetched twists.  It has cemented the primacy of an entire category of film that can do everything that could possibly be expected of it, everything it means to do, and can still feel made out of nothing. Cast with talented, Chris Evans-Ana de Armas. a movie like ‘Ghosted’ can have a lot of pleasures. It can have romance, action, a wink to its embrace of extremely silly set pieces. But there’s something that’s just not there about it, an unnerving sense that if you unwound the whole thing layer after layer, you’d discover it’s wrapped around only itself.

There’s nothing terribly original about the storytelling. Take into the license-to-kill formula, Ana de Armas was one of the best things here, the director give her considerably more to do. Whether romancing,shooting,racing,she’s up to the task.

The proceedings do lose steam, however, towards the more tired last leg of the film. On a craft level, nothing here has any spark. . The locations – Washington,London and Pakistan etc — are indistinguishable from each other. The compositions are equally unimaginative, leading to perplexing camera angles and nauseating camera movements during fights. 

 Ghosted’s’ comedic verve should be in the bag. But Chris evans falls into a familiar sarcastic person,he and Ana de armas are poor partners for his improvisational antics. They just aren’t funny.Neither the film, the script, nor the actors provide any reason to care about these characters or this plot.  The grand finale is so unlikely that the incomprehensible screenwriting logic necessary to sell it provides a coma-inducing whiplash.

Bottomline

Ghosted is more than a Romantic action comedy , it is deeply satisfying as an average spy thriller.