| Carl Bruner | |||||
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| Portrayed by | Tony Goldwyn | ||||
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Biological statistics
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| Born | 1960's | ||||
| Age | 30 | ||||
| Status | Deceased (Went to Hell) | ||||
Professional information
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| Occupation | Banker | ||||
Relationship information
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| Relationship | Unknown | ||||
Carl Bruner is the hidden main antagonist of the 1990 film Ghost. He was once a friend to the late Sam Wheat and Molly Jensen in the beginning of the film, and later, he sent Willy Lopez to take Sam's wallet, only for Willy to kill Sam. Throughout the film, Carl is attempting to transfer 4 million dollars, and is looking for the check. At the very end, he is killed when hit with a glass window, and he is dragged to Hell, like Willy was. He was played by Tony Goldwyn.
Role[]
Carl was a good friend and colleague of the protagonist, a banker named Sam Wheat, until Sam discovered discrepancies in some of the bank accounts, which were the result of laundered money run by Carl on behalf of drug dealers. In order to steal Sam's security codes, Carl orders his partner, Willy Lopez, to attempt to rob Sam, though this results in Willy panicking and killing Sam with a gunshot. Carl sneaks into Molly's apartment and steals the codes. He plans to use them to access four million dollars from a laundered account and pay back his superiors. Upon realizing that Carl had a hand in his death, Sam (now a ghost) is now completely furious at Carl for his treachery, declaring he had a life.
Carl himself begins to panic when he cannot access the fake bank account which is now closed. He learns that Oda Mae closed the account and declares that if the money is not returned, he will kill Sam's girlfriend, Molly. Sam catches both Carl and Willy trying to break into Oda Mae's apartment. Sam then physically attacks Willy, who attempts to escape from Sam but is killed in a traffic accident. Willy's ghost arises, only to be grabbed by a group of howling demons and pulled into Hell for his sins. Upon witnessing Willy's death, Carl flees from the scene.
Close to the end, Carl arrives back to Molly's apartment, but they flee. Sam is left momentarily weakened by having possessed Oda Mae, leaving Molly and Oda Mae to fend for themselves against Carl. After evading him for a brief time, he seizes Ode Mae and threatens her at gunpoint for the money. Molly comes to Oda Mae's rescue and is knocked aside just as a fully recovered Sam arrives to help them by physically attacking Carl. Terror-stricken, Carl attempts to flee through a nearby window, but not before flinging a scaffolding hook in Sam's direction. The hook swings back and partially shatters the glass in the upper part of the window, which plummets down on Carl as he is climbing through, fatally impaling him through the chest. Carl becomes a ghost himself much to his astonishment and to Sam's grief. Sam then watches in silence as the shadowy demons arrive and drag a screaming Carl away to Hell for his sins.
Personality[]
Though he was initially Sam and Molly's good friend, Carl was at heart a conniving, self-serving coward. After Sam was killed he was more concerned with saving his own skin (especially when it came to making sure that his money laundering scheme went smoothly, as the drug dealers he was working for would kill him if things went bad) than mourning his friend, which caused him to become increasingly unhinged as time went on. As a further sign of how heartless and treacherous Carl was, he even tried to seduce Molly while she was still mourning Sam, deliberately spilling coffee on his shirt so he could have an excuse to take it off while he was alone in a room with her. He was also prepared to kill Molly and Oda Mae in order to further his plans, though this may have been out of desperation.
Trivia[]
- Carl is similar to Le Chiffre and Conrad Grayson; they were wealthy bankers who embezzled money and used it to finance criminal organizations. They all get killed off in the end.
- He is also similar to Dr. Facilier; they desperately seek to pay back their superiors, and they even have lowly henchmen to help them (Dr. Facilier: Lawrence, Carl: Willy). When they are unable to make good, they get dragged off to Hell.