Three Live Ghosts: War, Greed, and Some Very Confused Veterans

Is it worth the watch?

If you like movies that feel like they were pulled out of a time capsule buried in someone's basement, sure. It is not exactly a masterpiece, but it has a weird, twitchy energy. If you hate old-school stagey acting where everyone talks a bit too loud, you should probably skip this.

The whole premise is that these three guys walk back into their lives after being declared dead. It is Armistice Day, everyone is celebrating, and then—bam—here are these three 'ghosts' ruining the party for their families. It is actually kind of dark when you think about it.

Take Jimmie’s mom, for instance. She spent all his death benefit money. So when he shows up, she isn't exactly doing cartwheels. She is actively annoyed he isn't dead anymore. That is a hell of a reaction to your son coming home from the trenches.

The 'Spoofy' Problem

Then there is this guy they call 'Spoofy.' He has amnesia and a habit of stealing literally anything he can get his hands on. It is meant to be funny, I guess? But it just feels like the script needed a way to force some conflict, so they made one guy a kleptomaniac.

There is a specific scene where he is just wandering around grabbing things while the other two are trying to have a serious conversation about their identity crisis. It is incredibly distracting. You can tell the actors are trying to keep it together while he does his bit in the background.

It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in The Heart of New York, where the chaos is supposed to be the point. But here, the tone shifts from 'sad veteran' to 'zany comedy' so fast it gives you whiplash.

Random Notes:

• The dialogue is incredibly snappy, almost like a radio play.
• The lighting in the scene where they first enter the house is surprisingly moody for a comedy.
• I swear the actor playing Spoofy is trying to communicate with his eyes that he wants to be in a different movie.
• It is wild how quickly these guys just accept they are legally dead.

It is definitely not as heavy as something like Man's Castle. It doesn't really want to be. It just wants to get to the next punchline, even if the punchline is about someone losing their inheritance because they didn't stay dead long enough.

The movie gets noticeably better when it stops trying to be a social commentary on the war and just lets these three guys be idiots. There is a moment near the end where the whole thing just goes off the rails. I won't spoil it, but let’s just say the police work involved is… questionable at best. 👻