User Reviews

FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD GHOST is actually more compelling for the guy (Ross McCall) being haunted rather than the ghost itself, played somewhat unconvincingly by veteran movie heavy Jonathan Banks. Banks is haunting McCall because he believes McCall, a new neighbor of Melinda and Jim's, killed his granddaughter (Dominique Swain). McCall is at first a menacing figure who we later learn is terrified and constantly on the move because of the hauntings. We see a crack in the relationship between Melinda and Jim develop over this case. We also see a ghost do more than just throw a book off a shelf or a glass off a table; in fact, what this ghost can do reaches well beyond what a ghost should be able to do under any circumstances in an American TV show or the movies. Melinda tells her antiques partner that ghosts lately seem to be amassing strength, something I consider a mistake in the mythos of this series. We will see this mistake repeated down the road in another episode. Banks was a great villain in a handful of '80s movies. Today he is just an old man, and I did not find it believable for a minute that he does what he does in this episode.

ROSS McCALL is an angry young man being followed by a ghost (JONATHAN BANKS) who is even angrier because he believes the young man has killed his rebellious granddaughter. This is one of the most effective of all the "Ghost Whisperer" series I've seen so far, compelling because the story is interesting, the production details are first rate and the acting is fine.

Once again, JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT is the nosy investigator on call whenever she spots a ghost--this time, a very bold one whom she spies on when she notices that he has entered the boarded up house across the street where a new neighbor has moved in. Neither the new neighbor nor the spirit of the elderly man welcome her snooping around.

The ghost in this little tale is able to do things that are beyond the power of most ghosts (except in literature), so you have to willingly suspend disbelief when it comes to his interaction with live people.

The relationship between Melinda (Hewitt) and Jim (DAVID CONRAD) is an uneasy one because Jim doesn't want her to play dangerous games with the spirit of the angry man who resents her prying questions and threatens to harm her. He also wants her to respect the neighbor's privacy.

It all leads to a surprising and satisfying resolution with an unpredictable twist toward the end. Worth viewing.