The pair that carried Knives Out (2019) star in an action-adventure rom-com that takes us all over the place way too much. Ghosted is out now, and we’ve got the movie review that will save you from wasting two hours of your life. Chris Evans and Ana de Armas are two of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Evans is celebrated for making Captain America a beloved superhero. Ana de Armas recently became the first Cuban Best Actress nominee for her work in Blonde. However, the undeniably talented performers are betrayed by a messy script that tries to be too many things at once. While a good story exists somewhere in Ghosted, it got mixed up with too much garbage to merit a good review.
‘Ghosted’ Story – A Rom-Com That Turns Into An Action Comedy
Evans stars as Cole, a farmer living with his family who has a history of failed relationships. He meets Sadie (de Armas) at a farmer’s market, and he becomes infatuated with her after they spend an entire day and night together. Thinking he’s found the one, he’s disappointed when Sadie doesn’t respond to his texts. In other words, she ghosts him, hence the movie title. When Cole discovers that Sadie is in London by tracking his inhaler that he left in her purse (no, seriously), he decides to fly there and surprise her. Romantic gesture or a creepy stalker move? You decide.
However, he is quickly abducted by a group of criminals who believe he is a CIA agent called the Taxman. Just as he is about to be tortured, Sadie shows up to rescue him, revealing herself as a CIA agent (which de Armas has experience playing).
This leads to Cole being pulled into a complicated world of car chases, shootouts, and a mission to reclaim a biochemical weapon that can cause mass destruction. Of course, none of that compares to the biggest issue he has to face: falling in love with a ghosting CIA agent.
‘Ghosted’ Review – Chemistry Can’t Save a Bad Movie Script
Evans and de Armas are charming, talented, and charismatic actors. They have moments together in this movie that may have worked in a different film. However, those moments lose all believability when they take place in a script that feels like it was written by someone who guzzled an entire pot of coffee and was up all night writing whatever came into their mind.
Ghosted is essentially a gender role reversal of other spy films in that the woman is now the hero, and the man is the “damsel in distress.” Because as we have learned with the controversy regarding Disney princes, men can no longer be the heroes. We’re all for badass women in action movies (e.g. Sigourney Weaver in the Alien franchise). But the script actually gives Sadie so many mood swings that it does a disservice to itself. One moment she’s into Cole, then she’s annoyed and screaming at him. At one point, she is lauded by her boss for rescuing Cole in the first place, to which she replies (in front of Cole) that her emotions clouded her judgment and that one life, compared to thousands, isn’t worth saving. This happens not long after Cole rescues her from bleeding to death and dying in a plane crash, so good job making yourself likable, Sadie.
Granted, Cole isn’t all that great, either. Romantic gestures are great, but flying to London for a girl who is “ghosting” you seem a bit overboard. It’s unlikely that Chris Evans was named the sexiest man alive by coming off as needy.
And while Evans is somewhat amusing as a male damsel in distress, there is something sad about watching the leader of the Avengers turn into a helpless “himbo.”
And on that note, some gratuitous cameos from Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan felt like a desperate grab for attention worse than any product placement ever. We know that Evans misses being Captain America, but still.
Ghosted starts as a budding rom-com with potential before turning into a weak version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith meets Red 2. It goes so all over the place that it’s like watching several movies at once. We also get a one-dimensional cliched villain played by Adrian Brody, who makes his infamous Sean Paul impression on SNL only the second-worst performance of his career.
We also have our eyes assaulted with terrible special effects, with images of a flesh-eating insect and a final battle in a rotating restaurant that look like something out of a video game from the 2000s.
On a final note, the movie begins with Sadie buying a cactus at the farmer’s market, and the cactus frequently reappears in the movie and is frequently referred to with an eye-rolling metaphor. Whoever wrote this script, do not start writing poetry.
‘Ghosted’ Verdict – A Good Movie Premise Drowned in Disaster
The sad thing about Ghosted is that a much better movie could have been made with its premise and characters. Chris Evans’ take on a hopeless romantic and overly idealistic “man-boy” learning how to take action for the woman he loves could have made for a good film. Ana de Armas has the talent to be a strong female action star. Sadly, their talents are wasted on a movie where both characters are plagued with mood swings about each other while getting thrown around in a clunky action story that throws us way too much at once.
One can only hope de Armas will have a better chance as an action-film lead in the John Wick spin-off Ballerina. Until that comes out, this movie did her no favors.
Do you agree with our review of Ghosted? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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