Blithe Spirit is so aggressively un-funny it might make audiences unfamiliar with the script's successful track record wonder why it was ever a success in the first place. Of all the movie's sins, this is the biggest. Coward requires a light touch and nerves of steel. His characters are witty and heartless, with glittering carapaces of dazzling verbal weaponry. They are self-involved, impulsive, and careless of consequences. When Coward is done badly, the plays come off as arch and stilted, the characters paper cut-outs representing generalized haughty attitudes. It's all-style, no substance. When Coward is done well, and you know it when you see it, there's nothing better. Unfortunately, Coward is nowhere in sight in this new adaptation. Even his famous dialogue doesn't stand out. In fact, there have been many "improvements" added by the writing team of Piers Ashworth, Meg Leonard, and Nick Moorcroft, none of which improve anything.