Phantom romance

"Love is magical comfort food for the weak and uneducated," claims Connor Mead, ladies' man and lead character in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, as he gives a speech trying to dissuade his brother (Breckin Meyer - adorable) from marrying his fiancé (Lacey Chabert - hilarious) the next day.

You could apply the line to the movie itself, and to rom-coms in general, in fact. You don't go to a Matthew McConaughey chick-flick looking for enlightenment, you go to switch off.

I was disheartened to see McConaughey starring in yet another girly film, (next time I see him on the silver screen he better be getting his method acting groove on a la Christian Bale), but I did walk out of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past a happy, satisfied, if not enlightened person.

The story is a rehash of the Dickens tale A Christmas Carol - which has already had countless film remakes - in which a grumpy money lender, aptly named Scrooge, is visited on Christmas Eve by various ghouls who open his eyes to his immoral life, and warn him that it will ultimately lead to a lonely existence.

Pretty much exactly the same thing happens in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, but substituting Scrooge's misuse of money are Connor Mead's philandering ways with women, and substituting Christmas Eve is the night before his brother's wedding.

The story gets straight into it and at first you feel it's a bit rushed. Five minutes in and you're already at the wedding venue with Connor being cynical, while repressed but obvious sparks fly between him and childhood sweetheart Jenny Perotti (Jennifer Garner).

You do become fond of the characters and invested in the story, not through the present-day action, but in the flashbacks into Connor's past during his "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" tour.

The real stars of this film are the supporting cast. Michael Douglas shines as Connor's regretful playboy uncle (or the ghost thereof), Chabert is fantastic as the bridezilla and Robert Forster made me spit out my Sprite with laughter as the Korean war vet father-of-the-bride.

It's the lead actors who let the side down. McConaughey's Mead is unbearably sleazy and Garner's love interest is annoyingly uptight.

But, at the end of the day my talk is cheap, because - just between you and me - I shed a tear in the cinema.