Ghost (1990)

It's no secret that Ghost is on many couples' lists of most romantic movies -- no doubt because of the incredibly sensuous opening scenes of Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze embracing each other while having sex with their hands caressing the clay at the potter's wheel. (The scenes are so iconic and wedded to the tune "Unchained Melody" that they could almost explain a baby boomlet in 1990.) Back when Demi was acting, these two showed some of the deepest chemistry seen on the modern theater screen -- and while Demi carried more than her weight during Patrick's posthumous pursuit of his true love in life, the real magic was how Patrick passed from being a man in corporeal life who couldn't say "I love you" (preferring "Ditto" after Demi said the words) to an incorporeal man who so longed to be reunited with his beloved that he could freely confess his love for her and would do anything to defend her from harm. Ghost has plenty of comic charm after Patrick finds and urgently cajoles faux medium Whoopi Goldberg to help him warn and reassure Demi. Ghost also evinced a surprising cache of spirituality since it shows that good people approach a heavenly light after they die while bad people are snagged by dark dimensionless beings and dragged screaming into a black subterranean pit. (Actions have consequences that reach beyond this life.) Ghost was my introduction to Vince Schiavelli's unforgettably gaunt wraith of a face and I enjoyed his character's angst in the afterlife -- since it helped Patrick learn how to reach (however ethereally) into the material world. Ghost is one of the most memorable and romantic ghost stories ever told. 5 stars.