To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday (1996)
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14% of critics liked it
(28 reviews) -
42% of users liked it
(6,127 ratings)
In this story of obsessive and enduring love, David Lewis (Peter Gallagher) spends most of his time swimming, dancing, and frolicking on the beach with the spirit of his dead wife Gillian (Michelle Pfeiffer). After Gillian's drowning death, David made their summer cottage on Nantucket Island… More In this story of obsessive and enduring love, David Lewis (Peter Gallagher) spends most of his time swimming, dancing, and frolicking on the beach with the spirit of his dead wife Gillian (Michelle Pfeiffer). After Gillian's drowning death, David made their summer cottage on Nantucket Island into a permanent home. He lives there with his teenage daughter Rachel (Claire Danes), who is being neglected because her father spends so much time with her dead mother's ghost. On the second anniversary of Gillian's death, over Labor Day weekend, he invites Gillian's sister Esther Wheeler (Kathy Baker) and Esther's husband Paul (Bruce Altman) for the weekend. David's in-laws bring with them a beautiful woman named Kevin Danford (Wendy Crewson), hoping that David's attentions will turn to her. But David ignores her and proceeds with his ritualistic celebration of Gillian's birthday, including a formal dinner, karaoke, and building sand castles. After Paul makes a pass at Rachel's young girlfriend, Esther and Paul re-examine their bickering marriage and find it paltry compared to David's overwhelming eternal passion. Nothing can interfere with David's love for Gillian, but he comes to realize that he must be more attentive to his daughter as well. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi
- Directed By
- Michael Pressman
- Written By
- Michael Brady, David E. Kelley
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Comedy
PG-13,
- In Theaters
- Oct 18, 1996 Wide
- On DVD
- May 7, 2002
- Studio
- Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Emanuel Levy, Variety
A bargian basement Ghost, a hybrid of the earnest nature of an inspirational play and the sleek calculation of a Lifetime TV movie.
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Douglas Pratt, DVDLaser
Based upon a stageplay, the plot is very straightforward and predictable, and has no strong emotional payoffs, but the drama is stuffed with the feelings and confusions of grief and some viewers may find sufficient solace in that to respond to the film's
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Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
Tries too hard to make the audience cry; practically each 'emotional' moment is highlighted by the soft musical sounds of a harp and wind section.
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Dan Lybarger, Nitrate Online
Michelle Pfeiffer is appropriately cast as a ghost, but this meditation on death and remembrance is curiously spiritless.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Peter Gallagher
as David Lewis
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Claire Danes
as Rachel Lewis
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Kathy Baker
as Esther
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Wendy Crewson
as Kevin
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Michelle Pfeiffer
as Gillian Lewis
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Bruce Altman
as Paul
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Freddie Prinze Jr.
as Joey
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Laurie Fortier
as Cindy
