Opinions differ on this

Writer Charles Condomine (Dan Stevens) is suffering from a nasty case of writer's block. A séance with renowned medium Madame Arcati (Judi Dench) is supposed to give him ideas for his new book. Too bad Madame Arcati accidentally summons the ghost of his late ex-wife Elvira (Leslie Mann) back from the afterlife. At first, the feisty grand dame drives her ex nearly insane. But gradually the two become closer again and Elvira even helps him write the next screenplay. This doesn't please Ruth (Isla Fisher), Charles' new wife, at all. She tries everything to bring Elvira back to the afterlife. But the Condomines won't get rid of the ghost that easily...

"There's a Parting of the Spirits" is the latest of numerous film adaptations of the play "Happy Spirits. An Unlikely Comedy in 3 Acts" by Noël Coward. Probably the best known adaptation is the 1945 film version "Ghosts Comedy" starring Rex Harrison and Margaret "Miss Marple" Rutherford. Edward Hall, director of the latest version of the material, obviously tries to stage his version in the style of classic screwball comedies. And in parts he succeeds quite well. Especially the wonderfully overdone acting of Dan Stevens and Leslie Mann is undoubtedly one of the film's strengths.

However, there are also two problems that clearly spoil the pleasure: For one, Hall doesn't always find the right pacing. The dialogues should be served with much more pepper and verve. But often too long pauses or too ponderously delivered dialogues make sure that the wordplay can't really unfold. The second problem is that Hall doesn't manage to give the story his own touch in his version or to gain something new from it. The film feels stale from start to finish. That in itself wouldn't really be a bad thing if the production could also capture the wit of classic comedies. But since it too often fails to do so, the film as a whole simply works to a limited extent.

"There's a difference of opinion"has its moments, no question. And the ensemble's somewhat over-the-top playfulness is thoroughly enjoyable. But the bottom line is that this ghost comedy falls far short of its potential. Nice entertainment, but it doesn't necessarily make a visit to the cinema necessary. Only worth seeing with cutbacks!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp