I’m a night person and I’m up pretty late most nights. If I go to bed too early, I can’t sleep, so I figure I might as well stay up. Since I almost always have the tv on when I’m up at night, I’ve seen a lot of movies that I wouldn’t have otherwise seen. Some of them have been really good, and others have been horrible. I’m usually not too picky about what movies I watch and I’ll try almost anything once - though there are some movies I will never watch. When I end up sitting through really horrible movies it is because there is nothing else on. I recently ended up watching Ghost Dad. I’ve seen it a few different times. While I don’t love it, it is an all right movie that I don’t mind sitting through.

PLOT

Elliott Hopper was a single father with three children. His wife died a few years before. His oldest daughter, Diane, helped around the house and took care of her younger brother and sister, Danny and Amanda. Diane had been doing even more recently because Elliott had been working a lot of overtime. He was trying to get a promotion that would mean more money and benefits. Diane seemed to resent her responsibilities around the house since she couldn’t go out and do fun things with her friends. Elliott told her that it would be better after Thursday when he got his promotion. Since he had been working late, Elliott tape recorded himself reading a story to Amanda that she could play before she went to bed.

On the morning of Diane’s seventeenth birthday, Elliot forgot about it, but he tried to cover that up. He let Diane drive the car to school that day. When she was driving him to work, he mentioned how some things would change if everything went well and he got his promotion on Thursday. The rest of the morning Elliott just missed being in some accidents. He needed to go somewhere and he had to take a cab since Diane had the car. The cab driver, Curtis, was a Satan worshiper. He was driving like a bat out of you know where and almost had several accidents before he crashed into the side of a bridge. Curtis kept asking Elliott if he worshiped Satan. Elliott tried to get out of the cab, but he opened the door on the side of the car that was hanging off the side of the bridge. The cab, Elliott, and Curtis fell into the river below.

Elliott made his way back up onto the bridge where he saw a police officer. Elliott was trying to tell him what a maniac Curtis was, but the cop wasn’t answering him. A bus crossed the bridge, driving through Elliott. He naturally freaked out and figured out that he had died in the accident. He was really worried about his children because he wouldn’t have insurance or a pension until after he got his promotion on Thursday. He went home and saw his kids. Elliott decided that he had to make it through Thursday so he would get the promotion. Diane wasn’t happy about what was going on at all. Danny and Amanda were more willing to help him. Elliott’s boss, Mr. Collins, was upset with him because he missed a meeting. The meeting was for an important business deal that was tied to Elliott getting his promotion.

Sir Edith (pronounced Ed-ith) Moser was a scientist from London England that somehow knew what was going on with Elliott. Edith studied ghosts and he summoned Elliott to him so he could do some tests. Elliott wanted to go home until Thursday so he could get the promotion. Edith said that Elliott was in a temporary state and wouldn’t make it that long. Elliott convinced Edith to send him back home. Elliott had to figure out how he could go to work and get his promotion without anyone finding out that he was a ghost. Edith traveled to the States so that he could study Elliott more.

CAST

Bill Cosby - Elliott Harper
Kimberly Russell - Diane Hopper
Ian Bannyn - Sir Edith Moser
Barry Corbin - Mr. Collins
Alim Grant - Grant Hopper
Brooke Fontaine - Amanda Hopper
Raynor Scheine - Curtis Burch

Sidney Poitier - Director

Written by Brent Maddock and S. S. Wilson

Ghost Dad was made in 1990. It was 83 minutes long and rated PG. There wasn’t any swearing in the movie. I have only seen it on tv, so it possible that some swearing had been edited out, but I really don’t think any was because of the rating. I think this is a family movie, but some younger children may be upset by the idea of losing a parent to death or one of their parents becoming a ghost.

I have seen Ghost Dad a few different times. It isn’t one of my favorite movies and I won’t plan to watch it, but I don’t mind sitting through it when I can’t find anything else on. I don’t hate the movie. It was an average movie that is ok to watch to kill some time and not have to think about what is going on. I did think the plot was original, though it wasn’t exactly believable. I have loved some other movies that were unbelievable though. Some parts of it were downright silly, but there were some parts that I did enjoy. Anyone looking for a serious movie shouldn’t bother with this one. I did find the movie entertaining and it helped me to get my mind off some things for a while.

Ghost Dad was a comedy. There were some things that were meant to be funny that I thought were just silly. Those things were usually some reactions that the characters were having to something else. There some things that I did think were funny. The character of Edith was really funny to me. His name was pronounced Ed-ith not E-dith like the women’s name. When seeing his name written, people assumed it was pronounced E-dith. He had fits when that happened, insisting that he had a man’s name. He was funny during those times. Edith did mention that he was named after his grandmother Edith. Her name was pronounced E-dith. Elliott had fun teasing Edith about his name.

For the most part, Ghost Dad was a light hearted movie, but there were some more serious issues in the movie too. Elliott was a single father because his wife died. He’d cashed in his life insurance and mortgaged the house to pay her medical bills. He had no insurance or pension, which was part of the reason why the promotion was so important to him. After the accident, he did have a talk with Diane about those things. She was very upset and worried about how she would be able to take care of herself and her two siblings. Elliott was really worried about what would happen to his kids since he was a ghost. Three children became orphans once Elliott became a ghost. That could be upsetting for some children to think about. Some parents could even be a bit disturbed by that idea and that fact that it wasn’t known what would happen to the children. Maybe this aspect of the movie would motivate some parents to make sure that their children will be taken care of in a situation like that.

There were a few things in Ghost Dad that either didn’t make sense to me or were inconsistent with other things that happened in the movie. Elliott couldn’t be seen when the lights were on but I don’t know why. Either that was never explained at all, or I zoned out when that was explained every time I’ve seen the movie. At one point Elliott had to go in for a physical related to the insurance he would get after his promotion. When he went in, he was wearing all kinds of stuff - trench coat, gloves, scarf, and sunglasses - so that the nurses could see him. They didn’t think it was strange that he was dressed that way. The doctor examined Elliott in a dark room and he didn’t seem to find that too strange. Elliott made some sort of explanation that I can’t remember now and the doctor was fine with doing the exam that way. What doctor examines a patient in a dark room? During the exam, another patient saw objects that Elliott was carrying that seemed to be floating or moving by themselves because the lights were on and Elliott was invisible. No one else ever saw those things. Only the one man did. When Elliott was leaving the office, which was full of people, he didn’t have his full disguise on, so it looked like the clothes were walking by themselves. The one patient - who saw the floating objects - saw that and noticed, but no one else did even though the office was packed with people. Elliott kept going in to work and no one noticed that he kept wearing the same suit every day. Some times Elliott fell though the floor, and other times he was able to walk on it just fine. I don’t remember hearing an explanation for that either, but maybe I zoned out then too. Or maybe that was explained when it was explained why he couldn’t be seen if the lights were on.

There were some special effects in Ghost Dad. Near the beginning of the movie, it was made to look like a bus drove through Elliott. A few times in the movie Elliott fell through the floor. He tried to pick things up at times and his hand would go through them. At different times, some objects seemed to be floating around a room when Elliott was carrying them but the lights were on. The special effects were ok, but they do seem a bit dated now. I could tell at times that something had been done with a blue screen. It wasn’t as noticeable in this movie as it has been in some others, but I did notice it a few times. Even when the movie was first made, the special effects were not ground breaking or amazing. They would have been just average effects even then.

The acting in Ghost Dad wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was all right for the most part. Bill Cosby was ok at Elliott for most of the movie, but he did do some overacting at times. It seemed like he was trying too hard to be funny at times, like when he was in the cab. He was exaggerating some things. I didn’t think he was as good in this movie as he was in The Cosby Show. Kimberly Russell was ok as Diane, but nothing really stood out about her performance to me. I did think she was overacting at times too. Before making this movie, she was in a tv show called Head of the Class. I think I’ve seen her in something else on tv, but I can’t remember what right now. Ghost Dad is the only movie released to the theaters that I’ve seen her in. Ian Bannyn was pretty good as Edith. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in anything else. Raynor Scheine was good as Curtis. I thought he was believable as the Satin worshiping maniac. He looked like he was a bit crazy. Brooke Fontaine and Salim Grant were pretty good as Amanda and Danny. They weren’t annoying or whinny like some children actors can be.

Elliott was the main character in Ghost Dad, so he was the most developed character in the movie. Even though he was the main focus of the movie, Elliott wasn’t extremely well developed either. Diane was probably the next most developed character. Danny and Amanda did show up in several scenes throughout the movie, but they weren’t that developed. Edith wasn’t in too much of the movie. He was fairly well developed for as much of the movie as he was in. There were a few other characters that showed up here and there, but they were barely developed at all.

CHARACTERS

Elliott - Single father who was raising his three children alone. He was working a lot of overtime to make sure he got a promotion. He was in an accident and became a ghost. He did work a lot and didn’t spend as much time with his children, but he did love them. He was really focused on getting the promotion so his kids would be taken care of. He was really worried about them and what would happen to them after his accident. He could be absent minded at times.

Diane - Elliott’s oldest daughter. She did a lot around the house and took care of her younger brother and sister. She resented her responsibilities and wanted to be able to do fun things with her friends. She did love her father and her siblings, but she didn’t want to have all the responsibilities that she did have. She worried about things, like how she would be able to take care of herself and her siblings. She had an attitude at times.

Danny - Elliott’s son. He was interested in magic. He seemed to be more willing than Diane to help Elliott try to get by until Thursday. He was a good kid.

Amanda - Elliott’s youngest child.

Sir Edith Moser - He was a scientist from London that studied ghosts. He was rather stuffy, up tight, and proper. He was named after his grandmother, but his name was pronounced differently. He got very upset when ever someone said that he had a woman’s name. He was an intelligent man who was devoted to his research.

I did enjoy watching Ghost Dad. It had some faults, and was an average movie, but it is ok to watch when nothing else is on. There were a few serious moments in the movie, but overall it was rather silly.

Recommended:
Yes

Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8