The new British film "Truly, Madly, Deeply" is a more sophisticated version of "Ghost," except that it's a lot more melancholy and doesn't have Whoopi Goldberg.
What it does have is Juliet Stevenson and she is fabulous.
Stevenson plays the central character, Nina, an English translator who is grieving over the recent death of her lover Jamie (Alan Rickman), a cellist who succumbed to a severe sore throat.
The first third or so of the film follows Nina as she goes through the motions of her life, feeling rather disconnected from those around her. She has friends, but doesn't really want to see them; she owns a flat that's falling apart and is infested with rats, but she's only half-heartedly dealing with it. Her boss (Bill Paterson) is concerned about her, her plumber is attracted to her and the widowed exterminator feels a kinship with her.
But Nina's grief over Jamie has reached an obsessive, fantasizing level that has stalled her life so much that she can't relate to anyone, and she doesn't quite know what to do about it.
Finally, one evening while playing the piano, she hears Jamie's cello join in. She thinks it's just more of the fantasy until she turns around and sees him. Jamie has returned as a ghost.
At first she is ecstatic, of course, as she and Jamie get to know each other again. But it isn't long before a lot of little things about Jamie begin to get on her nerves. He's always cold and insists on keeping the heat in her flat at sweltering temperatures. He invites a party of his dead friends to watch videos late into the night. And then he begins redecorating without consulting her.
Soon, Nina's passion for Jamie begins to turn to irritation, and after a time, she meets a young psychologist (Michael Maloney) and starts dating again.
Writer-director Anthony Minghella, a prolific writer of British plays, movies and TV shows, isn't really interested in exploiting Jamie's spiritual existence — there are no special effects and no real discussion of where Jamie's been since his death.
There are times, in fact, when it is unclear whether Jamie is actually a presence or simply exists in Nina's imagination.
Minghella really wants to explore getting through the grieving process, and he uses the semi-comic device of Jamie as a catalyst for Nina's return to the real world.
It's unfortunate that Minghella doesn't realize that a little of this goes a long way; there are stretches of "Truly, Madly, Deeply" that are far too dull and morose.
The film really comes alive when Nina meets the psychologist, who also does magic and has a unique way of getting to know her, and with Jamie's after-life acquaintances, a sort of "Dead Movie Buffs Society," mouthing in unison the dialogue from David Lean's "Brief Encounter."
But such inspired moments are few and far between. The spark that really keeps the film moving is provided by its star.
Alan Rickman (best known as the villains in "Die Hard," "Quigley Down Under" and "Robin Hood") is charismatic, Michael Maloney is charming and Bill Paterson is funny, but it's Juliet Stevenson, probably a stranger to most American audiences, who makes the film worth seeing. Her performance is well worth noting and her name worth remembering.
"Truly, Madly, Deeply" is unrated, but would get a soft PG for a few scattered profanities and implied sex.