Curtain Call (1998)

The executive Stevenson Lowe (James Spader) moves to New York to work in the publishing house that has belonged to his family for generations. He buys an old townhouse to live alone, disappointing his girlfriend Julia (Polly Walker) that believed they would move in together. Soon he discovers that the house is haunted by two amicable ghosts, the former theater stars from the 20's Max Gale (Michael Caine) and Lily Marlowe (Maggie Smith). Further, they are married and argue most of the time. Meanwhile, Senator Will Dodge (Sam Shepard) woos Julia and she breaks up with Stevenson. His professional and private life turns upside-down, since the publishing house decides to accept to publish commercial and shallow books; his former lover Michelle Tippet (Marcia Gay Harden) hits on him; Julia travels to Washington to meet the Senator; and the two ghosts quarrels all the time. But he learns how much he loves Julia. Will he succeed to have she back?"Curtain Call" is a delightful romantic comedy, one of those films that is pleasant to see more than once. The wonderful cast with James Spader, Polly Walker, Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Sam Shepard and Marcia Gay Harden has a perfect chemistry and seems to have fun while performing their characters. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Adoráveis Fantasmas" ("Lovely Ghosts")

James Spader, Maggie Smith, Michael Caine, Julia Walker, Marcia Gay Harden, and Sam Shepard star in "Curtain Call," a 1999 film directed by Peter Yates.Spader plays Stevenson Lowe, a bachelor with a steady girlfriend (Walker) who buys a gorgeous old townhouse. However, he soon learns that it's haunted by its former owners, a married couple (Smith and Caine) who were theatrical stars in a past era. And even in death, they don't get along. Julia, his girlfriend, unhappy that he can't commit to her, breaks up with him, and his family publishing business is going in a direction he's not happy about. Through it all, he learns some things about love and taking a stand from his ghostly guests - though they would say he is their guest.This is a nice film, but formulaic, and the script isn't very strong. It's pleasant enough, and the performances are certainly good from this wonderful cast, which also includes Buck Henry and Francis Sternhagen. Although not groundbreaking, it's a pleasant way to pass the time if you're looking for light entertainment.

What a perfect gem of a film. It would be a mean and clumsy spirit that did not respond kindly to this wonderful confection. Above all, the expertise of a crew led by the director of The Dresser which includes actors of the calibre of Michael Cain, Maggie Smith, Sam Shepard , not to mention Peter Spader, Polly Walker and Buck Henry leaves the viewer with a sense of secure pleasure that is very rare in today's cinema. The only scene which didn't quite work for me was the confrontation scene with Shepard in Washington but everything else flowed like a premier cru. Add cinematography, wardrobe and music that add to the sense of professionalism (no wonder the house and the New Year's Eve party seem so desirable!) and you have ninety minutes of gentle good humour. Michael Cain says towards the end "they don't write tunes like this any more" but here, once again, they did make a film like those by George Cukor with Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant. What a Philistine society we live in now that acclaims those commercial potboilers with poor old Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts and overlooks a masterpiece like this.

I am a James Spader fan, and based on his being in this film, along with Michael Caine, I went ahead and rented it. Unfortunately, the movie was so lame that I gave up on it half way through.Spader's acting suggested he had his mind on other things the entire time he was on screen. And the pacing and editing almost seemed random with very little driving the narrative.As I watched this tripe, I thought of the expression that "nature abhors a vacuum"...well I believe nature would abhor this as well, since a vacuum and this movie both suck.