"Curtain Call" (also called "It All Came True") is a film with a horrible pedigree. While it was released in some theaters, apparently it never did so in the USA and instead debuted on the Starz channel...sort of like a movie that goes straight to DVD. Obviously the production company had little faith in the film or perhaps ran out of money. This isn't all that unusual but for such a film to have Maggie Smith and Michael Caine in the film...that IS unusual.
When the story begins, Stevenon (James Spader) and his long-time girlfriend, Julia, are looking to buy a house. Now he is a successful publisher but he should NOT be able to afford the mansion that the realtor shows them. It's not only a gorgeous old place but it's in Manhattan and SHOULD cost a fortune to buy...especially since no one ever lived in it for long and it is essentially in brand new condition! Apparently, it was in probate for decades and the couple are able to get it for very little. But, of course, there is a catch....and that catch is that the place IS already occupied...by two ghosts!
Max and Lily (Michael Caine and Maggie Smith) are very nice ghosts who have lived there since the 1920s or 30s. And, unlike most ghosts in stories and films, they are nice and quite likable and nothing like those you'd see in "Ghostbusters"! And, like the nice couple who are ghosts in "Topper", the pair can apparently only be seen by Stevenson and offer him lots of advice...whether he wants it or not. They also can do rather magical things...like apparate anywhere they want in the world....though they seem to prefer spending most of their time in this mansion....and giving help to Stevenson concerning his miserable love life. Can Stevenson manage to live with these friendly ghosts or is this destined for failure?
I found that with this film in particular, reading through the reviews on IMDB was much less help than usual. The reviews either liked the film very much OR they thought it was less pleasant than a case of Ebola! Which is the truth and why such divergent opinions?!
So did I think it was any good? Well...some of this depends on you. For example, my wife HATES films which are cringe-worthy....whereas I often find them funny because of this. And, this movie is cringe-inducing at times....and if embarrassing scenes bother you, you might just hate parts of the film (such as the restaurant scene in Washington). I enjoyed it, as I found the film interesting and worthy as a time-passer. Not exactly brilliant (Spader was not at his best in this one), but Caine and Smith were charming.
By the way, if you can find this film anywhere other than the Popcorn Channel on the Roku, please see it that way instead. This channel places blocks of five commercials throughout the entire film...spaced every 5 or so minutes. I have never seen so many ads interrupt a film in my life. If I wasn't trying to see all of Michael Caine's films AND couldn't find it elsewhere, I would have just given up on the movie. I truly hope this channel goes out of business and soon, as seeing a movie like this is akin to torture. To make it worse, many times you are shown the same ad 5 times in a row!!
