Ghost is a 1990 film starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore and directed by Jerry Zucker. The basic plot is they are a young couple in love (Sam Wheat and Molly Jensen) and one night after a date Sam is killed in a mugging but his ghost remains on Earth to solve his own murder and protect Molly so she does not suffer a similar fate. As it turns out that was no ordinary mugging and the reasons for his murder run deeper than a quick score for a street thug.
Tony Goldwyn plays Carl Bruner, a coworker of Sam's that might have had something to do with that.
This heavily promoted and much-ballyhooed supernatural romance flick was a big vehicle for both stars, although it was more successful for Moore's career than Swayze's, as this film arguably is the one that made her a household name (a departure from her earlier films which were mostly throw-away teen flicks). Released in July, 1990, it was one of that summer's biggest flicks that ended up grossing over $200 million in the US and about $500 million worldwide. It was nominated for five Oscars.
Whoopi Goldberg, as psychic Oda Mae Brown who could hear dead people (but not see them) stole the show, as she is often wont to do, with her typical saucy black woman performance. Her role was to be Sam's avatar in the world of the living, mostly an aide in communications for obvious reasons. Whoopi won here for Best Supporting Actress.
This movie contains the often-imitated, often-mocked clay-pot-making scene, where Sam and Molly (when Sam was still alive and kicking) showed that pottery could be a sexier hobby than it was ever imagined to be before.
It also made "ditto" a buzzword for a while, Sam's typical response when Molly tells him "I love you." It is used as a plot device to convince Molly that Oda Mae is indeed being used by Sam's ghost to attempt communication with her.
I found the most interesting part of this somewhat over-hyped "love thriller" was the subway scene where some rules about being a ghost were discovered and explained, rules and ideas that I have incorporated into some of my own ghost stories. Vincent Schiavelli plays an angry, depressed, subway ghost, mostly a nuisance to travelers. He teaches Sam that the key to interacting with the living environment is in his mind, that his arms, legs, hands, for all intents and purposes aren't really there. In other words, his appendages will just fly though things, just as he walks through walls, when he tries to touch them unless he uses intense mental focus. He uses this skill later to float a coin towards Molly.
All in all, not a bad flick. I always appreciate it when a bit of supernatural fantasy or scifi is added to what would otherwise just be another boring romantic "chick flick."
Ghost was released by Paramount Pictures on July 13, 1990 and is 128 minutes long.
Sources: IMDB.com and Wikipedia