Ghost Dad
| Ghost Dad | |
|---|---|
 Promotional movie poster |
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| Directed by | Sidney Poitier |
| Produced by | Terrence Nelson |
| Written by | Brent Maddock S.S. Wilson Chris Reese |
| Starring | Bill Cosby Holly Guthrie Kimberly Russell Denise Nicholas Ian Bannen Christine Ebersole Barry Corbin |
| Music by | Henry Mancini |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 29, 1990 |
| Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $18 million |
| Box office | $27 million |
Ghost Dad is a 1990 comedy film directed by Sidney Poitier and starring Bill Cosby, in which a widower's spirit is able to communicate with his children after his death. It was critically panned, and wound up on many critics' "worst of 1990" and "worst of all time" lists. Despite its critical failure, it was a financial success, mostly due to its low budget.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Elliot Hopper (Bill Cosby) is a workaholic widower who is about to land the deal of a lifetime at work, which he hopes will win him a promotion and a company car. After he forgets his daughter Diane's birthday, Elliot attempts to make it up to her by promising her she can have his car when he secures the deal at work on the coming Thursday. After being persuaded to give the car to his daughter early, Elliot then ends up hailing a taxi from work, which is driven by a Satanist named Curtis Burch (Raynor Scheine), who drives very erratically and speeds out of control. In an attempt to get the man to stop the taxi, Elliot convinces Curtis that he (Elliot) is Satan and commands him to stop the taxi. Shocked to see his "Evil Master," Burch has an accident and drives off a bridge, causing him and Elliot to fall to their deaths below.
Elliot emerges from the accident scene and approaches a police officer on the scene, but he quickly learns that he is, in fact, a ghost when the police officer begins urinating on his shoes. Elliot returns home and is shocked to find his three children are capable of seeing him, but only when he is in a dark room with no light. Although they are unable to hear him, they soon learn that he is a ghost. Struggling to tell his family what has happened, he is suddenly whisked away to London by a paranormal researcher named Sir Edith (Ian Bannen), who tells him he is a ghost who is yet to enter the "After Life" and that he has until Thursday before his soul crosses over.
The pressure of work and helping his children with their various problems lead to a comedic series of events in which he struggles to keep his job until Thursday to ensure his family's survival without him. One day, he is faced with choosing between staying in an important work meeting and helping his son complete a magic trick at school. He eventually decides that his family's happiness is more important and walks out on his furious boss, Mr. Collins (Barry Corbin), who later fires him.
Dejected, Elliot reveals himself as a ghost to his love interest, Joan (Denise Nicholas) who is initially shocked, but later sympathetic. Edith arrives from London, extremely famished, but with the exciting news for Elliot that he is not dead; he is simply a spirit that jumped out of his body in fright. In the excitement to find Elliot's body and reunite his spirit with it, Diane trips on a pair of skates that Elliot's youngest daughter Amanda left on the staircase, causing her to fall down the staircase and get seriously injured. They rush her to the hospital and Elliot is confronted by Diane's spirit, for she had also jumped out of her body; she takes it all very humorously, flying excitedly around the hospital ward. Elliot begs her to get back into her body, imploring her not to waste her life as his body starts to "flicker". Diane becomes concerned as Elliot collapses on the floor, and races into the intensive care unit, where she discovers her father's body. She then helps him into the room, where he learns his body had no identification on it, as the taxi driver had taken his wallet before the accident. Elliot returns to his body and wakes up, along with Diane, who jumps off the operating table excitedly and tells the rest of family what has happened.
Reunited, the family are just leaving the hospital to return home when Elliot spots a yellow taxi parked outside. He discovers Burch behind the wheel, delighted to see "Evil Bill Cosby" and gives Elliot his imitation Gucci wallet back. Elliot then tells Burch to go to hell and sit on red hot coals and wait for him until it snows, to which Curtis agrees enthusiastically.
[edit] Cast
- Bill Cosby - Elliot Hopper
- Kimberly Russell - Diane Hopper
- Denise Nicholas - Joan
- Salim Grant - Danny Hopper
- Brooke Fontaine - Amanda Hopper
- Ian Bannen - Sir Edith
- Barry Corbin - Mr. Emery Collins
- Dana Ashbrook - Tony Ricker
- Omar Gooding - Stuart
- Arnold Stang - Mr. Cohen
- Dakin Matthews - Mr. Seymour
- Raynor Scheine - Curtis Burch, the Cabbie
Additional Voices by LaGloria Scott, Kerry Gutierrezm, Kaleena Kiff, Rocky Krakoff, Jonathan Brandis, Ryan McWhorter, Suzanne Stone, Barbara Harris, Carol King, Doris Hess, Cathy Cavadini, David McCharen, David Randolph, Greg Finley, Bryan Scott, J.D. Hall, and Joseph Chapman
[edit] Novelization
| Ghost Dad | |
|---|---|
 1990 book cover |
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| Author(s) | Mel Cebulash |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Comedy |
| Publisher | Berkley; Mv Tie in edition |
| Publication date | July 1, 1990 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-0425124536 |
| OCLC Number | 21994170 |
As part of the publicity for the movie, a Ghost Dad novelization written by Mel Cebulash was released the year of the film's debut.
[edit] Critical reaction
Since its release, the film has been universally ravaged by critics and has a 5% rating on movie review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.[1]
Rating the movie half a star out of four, Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert characterized the film thus:
Ghost Dad is a desperately unfunny film - a strained, contrived construction that left me shaking my head in amazement… How could Sidney Poitier, a skilled filmmaker with an actor's sense of timing, have been the director of this mess? How did a production executive go for it? Who ever thought this was a good idea?[2]
[edit] Box office
In the film's opening weekend, it earned $4,803,480. Domestically the film earned $24,707,633 and $714,000 at the foreign box office for a total of $25,421,633 making it a box office success.[3]
[edit] VHS and DVD release
Ghost Dad was released on VHS by Universal Studios on March 1, 1992. The film was released on DVD by Good Times Video on May 1, 2001, and as a "Studio Selections" DVD by Universal Studios on March 1, 2005.
[edit] Cultural references
In the "Treehouse of Horror XI" episode of The Simpsons, Homer dies by choking to death on broccoli and has 24 hours to do something to get into Heaven. The segment is titled "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad".
[edit] References
- ^ Rotten Tomatoes Ghost Dad reviews, June 1, 2007
- ^ RogerEbert.com Chicago Sun-Times movie reviews, June 1, 2007
- ^ Box Office Mojo movie box office performance, June 1, 2007
[edit] External links
- Ghost Dad at the Internet Movie Database
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