Ghost Whisperer

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Created by John Gray

Starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, David Conrad, Camryn Manheim and Jay Mohr


I have increasingly found myself watching and enjoyed ‘Ghost Whisperer’ and I look forward to new episodes. I think the turning point came with the rather impressive two-part season one finale, ‘Free Fall’ and ‘The One’.

I would not for one moment try to lay claim that it is a great show, destined to be remembered for its influence or quality, unlike say ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ or ‘The West Wing’. It’s fluff. It’s the new ‘Murder She Wrote’, although it might be worth remembering the enormous success and popularity of that show.

The premise is simple enough. Melinda (played by Jennifer Love Hewitt) owns an antique store in a small town (the show uses the old ‘Back to the Future’ set). She sees ghosts, those who have “unfinished business” in the world of the living, and helps them to cross over to the other side.

Although it is in its third season in America, I am currently watching season two. It’s sentimental and saccharine and the resolutions at the end of each episode are often ludicrously glib and unbelievable. A case in point is ‘Children of Ghosts’, the eighteenth episode of season two, which features Jenna Boyd, a young actress who made an impression in the film ‘The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants’.

Somehow, Melinda and her hubby (Hewitt and David Conrad) manage to become foster parents to this troubled young girl at the drop of a hat. In one scene Melinda suggests it and at the start of the next scene it has become a reality, even though they had no prior fostering experience and were not registered with social services. Later on, when Melinda discovers the identity of the girl’s real mother, she is able to hand her over with nary a form to sign or an explanation to be given. It’s trite and wears rose-tinted glasses, but it has a big heart and that particular episode also happens to be a favourite of mine.

I find it nearly impossible to dislike Jennifer Love Hewitt. She is surely too perky to take a real dislike to and my instinctive leaning in her favour has been strengthened recently by the spiteful, childish and woefully misinformed gossip about her weight.



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I Know What You Did Last Summer

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Rating 3½


Directed by Jim Gillespie

Written by Kevin Willimason from the book by Lois Duncan

Starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr


‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ was released in America in October 1997, one month after the start of the second season of ‘Buffy’.

Written by Kevin Williamson (the creator of ‘Dawson’s Creek’) and coming on the back of the enormous critical and commercial success of his film ‘Scream’, this one received mixed reviews at the time but was a sizeable box office hit, grossing just under $126 million. Opinion about the film seems to have become increasingly negative in the years since then; partly because Williamson’s reputation has declined, partly because slasher-movies in general are to some extent out of fashion, but largely I suspect because the main cast (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr in particular) have all become somewhat contentious figures in recent years.

This is not a piece of high-art cinema but it’s a perfectly decent and well-acted film. In fact, I would be inclined to count it amongst my own personal favourites. Gellar and Ryan Phillippe, in particular, both give excellent performances. Although Gellar’s character, Helen Shivers, is vacuous and self-absorbed, Gellar successfully taps into her vulnerability, especially after her friendship with Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) has been irreconcilably damaged.

The film also features Anne Heche, who I happen to like. She might have had her troubled moments, but that has got nothing to do with her talents as an actor. Also, a favourite band of mine, Southern Culture On The Skids, is briefly featured during the beach party scene, another reason why I feel pre-disposed towards the film.



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