Movie Review: Ghosted Has A Tone Problem Despite Its Two Charming Leads

Ghosted is the newest Apple TV+ original film with two of the biggest actors working today. The action rom-com stars Chris Evans and Anna de Armas in a subversion of the usual action-comedy tropes. As Evan’s character plays the damsel in distress to de Armas’ slick spy, the movie has great moments between them but ultimately doesn’t work. As I’ll point out in this Ghosted movie review, the story doesn’t live up to the charisma of its leading actors.

Ghosted Movie Review Is Spoiler-Free

Ghosted is essentially a flipping script of the typical action comedy. The movie reminds us of other films like the Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz starring Knight And Day where a meet-cute between two leads ends in hilarity. The man turns out to be a secret spy, and the woman gets caught up in his outrageous and dangerous adventures. This time around, it’s Chris Evan’s character, who is the bumbling and helpless one, while Anna De Armas’ character is this extremely capable bad-ass spy.

After the two meet at a farmer’s market, a brief but whirlwind romance ensues. But when she seemingly doesn’t respond to his messages, he feels like she’s ignoring him. As a romantic gesture, he ends up following her to London, through a tracking device, which is another issue I’ll discuss later on. But as he catches up to her, some baddies mistake him for her, because, sexism? And so he then becomes an unwitting participant in her dangerous spy mission. The Ghosted movie review will focus on how the story really goes downhill from there.

The Good Parts Of This Ghosted Movie Review

Let’s talk about what works in Ghosted. Firstly, Evans and de Armas have previously worked together in Knives Out and The Gray Man, although never romantically. So it makes sense for them to finally be cast opposite each other as love interests. And for the most part, it works. The two share incredible chemistry with one another. The initial scenes of them meeting, arguing, and eventually getting together are charming, sweet and engaging. Even throughout the film, both leads are putting in great performances, despite other issues with the story.

De Armas is incredible and handles the action sequences as capably as the comedy. Evans has already established his comedy chops in other films during his career. But this is one of his rare out-and-out comedy roles. Evans plays the subverted damsel in distress character, but without patronizing or condescending the character archetype as others have played it. I was also worried that he would play the character  in a feminine way, or maybe it was written that way, given the stereotype. But Evans is able to keep it funny and believable, while still being a guy. And let’s be honest, most guys in this situation would probably react in this manner; out of their depth and freaked out!

Why Ghosted Doesn’t Entirely Work

Ghosted relies entirely on the shoulders of its more than capable leads Evans and de Armas. But despite these highly talented actors, they aren’t complimented with a story as strong. Ghosted’s story feels dated. It’s like something you would see from the 90s or early 2000s. First of all, the premise takes a lot of suspension of disbelief to get around. Evan’s character puts GPS trackers on all his items, and he accidentally leaves something with de Armas’ character during their romance. Which is how he is able to track her down to London. Where he shows up, after knowing and meeting her only once. It’s a pretty unbelievable plot point, which feels very creepy and stalkerish. But it happens so early in the story that you have to accept it and move on, otherwise, the rest of the story doesn’t work. And for the most part, it doesn’t.

Ghosted also has a tone problem. The movie bounces back and forth from a very silly and goofy comedy to a very serious drama. And sometimes, that happens in the same scene. For example, a lie-detector interrogation scene, meant to reveal some truths about the characters, to one other. But, while the two leads are dropping brutal truth bombs and the atmosphere is getting very tense, there’s another character in the scene who is in a different movie entirely, cracking jokes in between them. And while everyone performed well, it’s a scene that feels disconnected, within itself.

Too. Many Cameos.

Another thing that doesn’t work about Ghosted is the crazy amount of cameos. The film shoves in all these big-name stars in brief roles which fall flat. The Captain America: Civil War trio of Evans, Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie unite in one scene, but it’s more baffling and mediocre than surprising or exciting. It genuinely doesn’t even have any impact on the story or overall enjoyment of the movie. Near the end, there’s a Ryan Reynolds cameo that is just confusing and unintelligible. It felt like they relied on the shock and awe of big names, rather than develop the story and script further.

Ghosted Is Charming If You Can Get Past Its Story

Ultimately, the conclusion of this Ghosted movie review is that the movie doesn’t really work as an action romantic comedy in 2023. But if you’re looking for a mindless comedy where logic and the decisions of the characters make no sense, then it might be for you. Evans and de Armas definitely deserved a lot more, like a stronger story to support their serviceable performances.

Ghosted is now streaming on Apple TV+.