A look inside Hollywood and the movies : IN THE SPIRIT : Shirley MacLaine Raises Lazuras

“Used People,� a bittersweet dramedy set in the 1960s that revolves around a Jewish widow played by Shirley MacLaine, is a David of a film competing against Goliaths this Christmas season.

Although advance word on the film, written by Todd Graff, is good, it won’t have the merchandising juggernaut that, say, “Home Alone 2� or “Aladdin� will. Nor will it benefit from a zillion-dollar opening-weekend advertising campaign earmarked for Columbia’s “A Few Good Men.�

But “Used People� has what its competitors lack: The karmic Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval of a thousand-year-old spirit.

According to Lazuras, a centuries-old entity who has examined the “energy source� of the film, “Used People� is destined to be this season’s sleeper hit, the “Fried Green Tomatoes� of 1992.

According to sources close to the film, Lazuras was asked to examine the karmic possibilities of the film by MacLaine. During the shoot of “Used People� in Toronto, MacLaine, a firm believer in chakras, crystals and all thing mystical, summoned her favorite channeler to a birthday bash thrown for Graff, 32. The channeler, said to be “Shirley’s favorite psychic guy,� said he can summon up the spirit of a mystic named Lazuras at will.

At MacLaine’s request, Graff lobbed questions about the fate of the movie at Lazuras.

“How will this movie be received by the public?�

Replied Lazuras in a deep knowing voice, “I see boffo box office.�

“I would never guess that a thousand-year-old spirit guy like Lazuras would have the words ‘boffo box office’ in his vocabulary,� Graff says, “but he did.�

Graff then asked what his grandmother’s reaction to the film was (“Used People� is based on a series of one-act vignettes called “The Grandmother Plays�: both are dedicated to his deceased grandmother.)

“She thinks it’s fabulous,� replied Lazuras, looking heavenward.

MacLaine butted in with her own question: “Really? She doesn’t think I’m not Jewish enough?�

“She thinks you’re absolutely perfect,� Lazuras assured.

Graff, whose script “Angie, I Says� will shoot in March (starring Madonna and directed by Jonathan Kaplan), says he found Lazuras’ spiritual bon mots comforting, but he concedes that “the whole thing was a crock, in my opinion.

“It was charming of her to arrange the appearance by Lazuras. But I still don’t believe a word of it. I won’t even believe the movie is actually going to open until I sit in a theater on opening day with my popcorn.�