Ghost Writer (2007)

Too much of everything

Sorry, this movie sucks

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Highly Overrated But Still Good

...that seems more of a vanity project for director/star, Alan "X2" Cumming than anything else, and what a vanity project it is, or isn't, depending on your perspective. The script is from a noob screenwriter, and it's a step above many, though not nearly as clever as it might otherwise wish. It takes way too long to get down to business (Syd Field would not be pleased), and has a tendency to spoil its own mysteries. In a nutshell, Cumming overacts a martinet of a private music teacher with a weakness for "nurturing" various young talents, in this case a ladies man of a writer who ends up grifting him to the point of histrionic vengeance. It's not a pretty sight (in fact, it's laden with homosexual clichés, beginning with their love of opera, and not yet ending with a macho man in bra and panties), and does nothing to advance the situation or audience appreciation of its protagonist or anyone else within earshot. As mentioned, the acting (and this is mostly all Cumming's baby) verges on hysterically overdone (or in the case of the antagonist (David "Angel" Boreanaz), crushingly underplayed to the point of apparent boredom), although (for the most part) the various production elements are fairly well done, given the relative low budget. Minimal appearances by the likes of Henry "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" Thomas, Carrie "Star Wars" Fisher, Anne "Psycho" Heche (looking exceedingly pinched and drawn), and Karen "Easy Rider" Black (who utterly steals her scene as a foul-mouthed slut) cannot rescue this potboiler no matter the best of intentions.Strictly for Cumming fans, and even they will be, at best, bemused.

Someone, please call me a psychiatrist! I loved this movie, and haven't laughed this much in a long time! It's like a car accident on the highway; you don't want to look, but you just can't help yourself!Think Rocky Horror Picture Show meets Misery.Alan Cummings is SO over the top, it's hysterical. You kind of WANT to feel sorry for him at the beginning, but there is just nothing truly redeeming about his character. I loved the way he got his comeuppance in the end.David Boreanaz is good throughout, but particularly in the latter part of the movie, which he seems to embrace with unabashed glee.If you like camp and bizarre humor, this is a movie you should definitely check out!

Suffering Man's Charity is set in Los Angeles where the slightly demented music teacher John Vandermark (director Alan Cumming) lives in a big house left to him by his mother, a young struggling writer named Sebastian (David Borneanaz) also lives there after John had taken pity on him. However Sebastian is taking liberties with John's kind hospitality running up large phone bills & never paying a penny for anything, John has had enough of Sebastian & his leeching & decides to confront him. Things turn nasty & after John completely loses it Sebastian ends up dead, wanting to get something back from Sebastian John passes his novel off as his own & strikes a lucrative book deal with a New York publisher but the ghost of Sebastian starts to haunt John...More commonly known under the title Ghost Writer this was directed by & staring British comedian & actor Alan Cumming this is a really strange one that I don't quite know how to sum up or even comment on, for me it's a complete turkey but I guess there might be an audience out there for it somewhere. To be honest I don't get Suffering Man's Charity at all, by that I mean I understand the plot & what happens but I don't understand it thematically or who it would or is meant to appeal too. According to the IMDb this is a horror comedy but I am struggling to think of a single funny moment during the thing & as for being a horror film there's a small subplot about a ghost but nothing else as far as I could see. I really don't know how to describe this film or what genre to assign it. To my eyes the whole thing feels like it is supposed to be a dark comedy but as I said it's not funny at all & while it's definitely different, quirky & off-beat that doesn't mean it's any good which I don't think it is. Overall Suffering Man's Charity didn't do anything for me & while there might be a small audience out there for it I can't see it appalling to the common person at all.This is well shot & looks decent enough but not much more, there's nothing scary or atmospheric here & no real horror. There's a gay kiss thing going on at the end which is slightly disturbing as it comes out of nowhere but overall this is pretty forgettable stuff.With a supposed budget of about $3,000,000 this was shot in Los Angeles & is well made. The actors play everything over the top with a bizarre performance from Cumming while Borneanaz gets to dress up in a bra & Panties with Carrie Fisher & Anne Heche in small cameo roles.Suffering Man's Charity is a strange film that almost defies description & is hard to categorize, personally I didn't like it at all & just didn't get what the makers were aiming for. Not my type of film at all & I doubt it would appeal to the majority.

Alan Cumming was great as the Emcee in Broadway's CABARET but here he whores himself out as actor AND director in an over-done, over-acted, nearly unwatchable thriller about an over-sexed writer (David Boreanaz) and a prissy music teacher (Cumming). As co-producer Cumming also calls in markers from the likes of Carrie Fisher, Jane Lynch, Anne Heche, Henry Thomas and Karen Black for cameos so short they couldn't possibly know the completed film would be so in-your-face awful. Black is especially cringe-worthy as a drunken whore. If you get off on seeing Boreanaz in skimpy ladies underwear, tied up with Christmas lights, this film might be worth a fast-forward; otherwise exorcise this GHOST.