Ivan Reitman

In Ghostbusters (1984), the men confronted with the supernatural still have a business to run. Reitman gives that practical concern room alongside the ghosts, and the team’s easy conversation is the film’s chief pleasure. Bill Murray’s deadpan makes the arrangement look simpler than it is. We laughed most at those exchanges, because these men sound comfortable with one another even when the work itself is alarming.

Meatballs (1979) and Stripes (1981) preceded the breakthrough of Ghostbusters, with Murray a recurring presence in Reitman’s early successes. Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis were also repeated collaborators, both actors and writers. Reitman spoke of working with writer-actors on set as a further draft of the script. We need to hear a group of people who can plausibly work together before the bigger premise has much chance of persuading us.

Twins (1988) turned towards the comic possibilities of Arnold Schwarzenegger, pairing him with Danny DeVito. The pairing fits Reitman’s interest in finding comedy where it was not immediately expected. The later criticism, attached to films such as Evolution (2001), was that familiar formulas had replaced the unruliness of the early work. It is a fair caution about comedy so dependent on the particular actors involved. His later career leaned more towards producing, including work with Jason Reitman.

What keeps Ghostbusters worth returning to is that Reitman takes its horror seriously enough for the comedy to work. The jokes do not require harmless ghosts, and he is willing to hold back a gag while the supernatural occupies the scene. The effects occasionally hold his attention too long, crowding out the quieter exchanges, and the plotting is slight. Yet the pleasure of listening to this team survives those distractions. Start there, particularly if the prospect of spending an evening with Murray appeals more than the promise of another apparition.