Ghosted Review: A Rogue Rom-Com with One Marvelous Reunion

To say Ghosted is a tolerable rom-com is to gloss over the fact this high-octane action romp is hardly a rom-com (at least not the one we deserve).

Ghosted follows Chris Evans’ Cole as he stumbles across the perfect girl, played by Knives Out co-star Ana de Armas. But her double life as a secret agent sends the farmer scrambling for answers when she leaves him on read.

Unfortunately, a stacked cast, an original premise, and all the celebrity cameos in the world cannot save this film from itself.

The film we are first introduced to is sweet, if a little naive. It bolsters what it lacks in chemistry with a backdrop of quaint farmers’ market booths and historic London landmarks.

It’s the return to form that Evans fans expected when we found out the prodigal heartthrob would resurrect his rom-com era. This film did not have to reinvent the romantic comedy. It just had to make space for Evans in the genre again.

Instead, Ghosted decides the rom-com formula isn’t enough, and that choice is fatal.

The second Cole is kidnapped and thrown into Sadie’s world of global espionage, any promise this concept holds seems to crumble under the weight of an empty fisticuffs plot.

At every turn, romance, and comedy come second to cheap action thrills. 

It’s Not Rom-Complicated

The notion that contemporary romance is not strong enough to stand alone in today’s sea of blockbusters is frustrating.

Because it is not the romance or the comedy that bogs down this film, it is the endless stream of mindless action this premise thinks it needs to sell a romance between de Armas and Evans.

Don’t get me wrong, action and rom-coms have gotten along famously before. This Means War and Mr. Right embraced the absurdity of their action premises for the better.

Worse of all, the action adventure at the center of Ghosted is not strong enough to justify taking center stage. It’s lazy one-dimensional writing and a disservice to the actor who starred in one of the best action films of this past decade.

Team Cap to the Rescue

Speaking of Captain America: The Winter Soldier — a film that understands how to make a hybrid action flick — it’s sweet irony that the best part of this film is the Team Cap reunion between Evans, Anthony Mackie, and Sebastian Stan.

The revolving door of doomed bounty hunters proves the best bit this action comedy has in its arsenal.

It’s built on a subtle foundation of tongue-in-cheek references to the Captain America films. Jokes like “he just got back from having sex with a stranger, not fighting the Germans,” or Evans echoing dialogue from his famous elevator fight.

Introducing Mackie swiftly with a joke about shock value creates a swell of excitement around his arrival. But Stan knocks us down for the count when he pops up from the backseat to terrorize Evans, sporting his signature Bucky scruff.

Ghosted gives Cap fans everything during this brief parlay. And Mackie hitting Stan with a car is so on-brand that I assume the actor requested the plot twist personally.

Sometimes movies get by entirely on celeb cameos, and it’s a tactic I’m willing to humor if it gives us something worthwhile to watch.

And there is nothing more worthwhile than watching Ryan Reynolds continue his cameo rampage where you least expect it.

Movies with Reynolds jumpscares could be an entire genre at this point, and they rarely disappoint. Ghosted is no different, committing to the cheap gimmick of this Free Guy reverse cameo.

But there is just something about watching Reynolds scamper off on all fours with an eye patch that speaks to the absurdity of this premise in ways nothing else tries to.

The only tool that matches this crackling energy is the unhinged soundtrack that treats this rom-com like a night at the club. Never will you see a film play “Uptown Funk” during a gunfight, and that in itself is an achievement.

Chemistry Crisis

Ghosted asks a lot of its audience by casting de Armas and Evans in these roles.

Ironically, it’s not their killer Knives Out run-in that proves challenging to overcome. It’s suspending belief that Captain America cannot hold his own. Evans has taken on meaty, villainous roles since hanging up the shield, but Cole’s meek demeanor and “I am a farmer” catchphrase hold the actor back.

(That said, the final hand-to-hand combat scene gives what it needs to give.)

De Armas is in the same boat. A last-minute replacement for Scarlett Johansson, she is jammed into a role meant for another actor, and it’s clear she struggles to adapt to the intensity of her spy persona.

Neither role is tailored to suit the actors’ strengths, and their chemistry suffers for it. The dialogue is stiff, sometimes producing a decent joke but often having to fight for space alongside the glorified green screen action sequences.

There is proof these two don’t need more than a cable-knit sweater to sell us on their chemistry. But unfortunately, Ghosted isn’t satisfied with cactus jokes and farm strolls defining its success.

Ghosted is a shining example of what happens when you do not tailor stories to suit the genre and actors at your disposal.

You cannot expect a celebrity ensemble to fill in the gaps of a one-dimensional script. You cannot expect them to elevate excellence that isn’t there.

With a great script, de Armas and Evans can unearth chemistry where there shouldn’t be any. But give them nothing and expect to find that spark? The mission is a failure from the start.

If the rom-com is going to make a return, it’s sure as hell not going to do it like this.

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Ghosted is streaming now on Apple TV+.

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