GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST

In a modern day spoof of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," Matthew Mconaughey portrays Connor Mead, a rakish professional photographer who--unlike Ebenezer Scrooge--spreads the wealth (of himself) around to his legion of adoring female fans.

He's phobic about anything that smacks of commitment, and why shouldn't he be when he has a bevy of young lovelies to choose from--most of them portrayed as sex-starved
and brainless? Except for Jenny Peroti, (Jennifer Garner) the girl he's known since childhood--"the one that got away."

Connor meets up with Jenny again on the eve of his younger brother Paul's wedding, and the old hidden away feelings they still harbor for one another begin to stir. Then the ghost of Connor's "Uncle Wayne," (Michael Douglas) who taught him all he knows about women, appears to him in a bathroom. (I, for one, don't like to be approached by ANYONE in a restroom--let alone a ghost.)

Uncle Wayne tells Connor he's got to change his ways, and that he'll be visited by 3 other ghosts (all women) who'll take him on a journey of enlightenment through his past, present, and future.
At this point, we can see what's coming. Just as Scrooge was shown the error of his ways, Connor must be made to see that all that womanizing will, in time, leave him a lost and lonely man, (ahh---but the MEMORIES) and that Jenny is the one he's been carrying a torch for all this time.

But will they be together in the end?

Mconaughey and Garner are a far cry from Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, but their on-screen chemistry works okay.

Lacey Chabert, as younger brother Paul's MERCURIAL BRIDEZILLA, Sandra, is a RIOT--and nearly steals the entire movie. Maybe that's why they toned her down in the second half of the film.

Anne Archer has a cameo as an older gal who's been around the block too many times to fall for any of Connor's shenanigans.

The soundtrack should bring you smiles, with good old nostalgic stuff like "I'll Keep Holding On" by Simply Red and "Burning Love" by Elvis.

For all of its IMPLIED casual sex (it's a PG-13 flick, remember) Ghost Of Girlfriends Past is selling the old-fashioned tenet that love conquers all--and there's enough sweet sentimentality here to bring a little tear to the eye of even the most jaded lothario who thinks he's having too much fun (and probably is).

GRADE: B