Ghost Dad (1990)

A Brilliant Conflict

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

OK so let's be honest here "Ghost Dad" is not any place near to being a great movie or the best movie you will ever watch. But at the same time it is also not what so many people say it is which is a horrible movie or even "the worst movie of all time"... for one thing it is Bill Cosby back in his time as one of the best comedians and entertainers, in his prime. So that alone means that there is going to be some really funny entertainment value in this movie. The movie can be a little darker than most things you would expect out of Bill Cosby but in a way that made it a little more special. I don't want to give away too much of the story for you people but near the beginning Cosby is in a horrible car accident with a crazy devil-worshipping cab driver and comes back as a ghost, trying to get back to his family and learning what's really important in his life.

Bill Cosby hasn't had much luck in his movie career, which may explain this (not unsuccessful) attempt to carry his familiar middle-class-family-man TV image over to the big screen. In the film he plays a single, somewhat neglectful father of three children who learns a few belated lessons in parenthood after a fatal taxi ride turns him into a reluctant ghost. Of course he can only be seen in darkened rooms, which leads to a lot of ectoplasmic slapstick and some predictable puns ("…over my dead body!") The film is strictly sit-com material, but at the same time is too undemanding to warrant any real criticism, and under Sidney Poitier's slick, superficial direction it moves quickly to a happy ending, with the help of a few clever (if economical) special effects. It might, however, have an unexpected side effect on a younger audience: having a dead dad is made to seem such fun that some kids might begin to want one themselves.

This is a fun family movie, but the plot isn't solid. This movie left me with a lot of questions. What was up with the cab driver and who does he think he is? Why did Stuart threaten his best friend's father? That's pretty bold of him to do that. Why at one point, could Elliot talk weird in one part and talk normal in another? Also when the company comes over to visit, it's day time, and some minutes later, when Stuart calls, Elliot went to his house and the sun was already down long ago. That reminds me, if Stuart threatened me like that, he would have his bratty self have the police called on. And, not all was resolved in the end. Elliot lost his job, Danny lost a friend of his, and Diane lost a potential boyfriend. Still, nevertheless, Elliot's extremist and eccentric behavior was definitely funny. Though plagued by errors, this makes for a good family film and is better than Home Alone 4.

This movie is far and away the BEST and GREATEST movie ever made. I may not know all that there is to know about cinematic technique. I hold no degree in Film or Photography. I have not studied writing, acting or directing, nor have I watched many so called "classic" films. However, I still feel that I am qualified to say that Ghost Dad is the pinnacle of achievement in the realm of motion pictures. Bill Cosby is a genius, and offers a finely tuned performance which recalls the "ghost" of all of his viewers' "dads." Wonderfully cast, superbly directed, touchingly photographed, and ably written, this film will no doubt stand the test of time to supplant "Citizen Kane" at the top of the cinematic hierarchy.