Ghost Dad

Infobox Film
name = Ghost Dad


caption = Promotional movie poster
director = Sidney Poitier
producer = Terrence Nelson
writer = Brent Maddock
S.S. Wilson
Chris Reese|
starring = Bill Cosby
Holly Guthrie
Kimberly Russell
Denise Nicholas
Ian Bannen
Christine Ebersole
Barry Corbin
music= Henry Mancini
distributor= Universal Pictures
released= June 29, 1990
runtime = 83 mins.
country = U.S.A.
language = English
imdb_id = 0099654
awards =
budget = $18 million
gross = $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 eviscerated, and wound up on many critics' "Worst of 1990" and "Worst of all time" lists.

Plot

Elliot Hopper (Bill Cosby) is a recently widowed father of three who has nearly bankrupted the family in attempts to save his lingering wife. Elliot is working on a business deal to get the family out of debt when he climbs into the taxicab of a maniacal Satanist named Curtis Burch.

In an attempt to end the ensuing mania, Elliot proclaims that he is in fact Satan and orders the driver to stop the cab immediately. Overwrought with the confrontation, Burch releases the steering wheel. The taxi slams into the barrier of a bridge and teeters over a river. As Elliot frantically tries to exit, he nearly falls out but manages to get back in the cab. When Burch reaches for Elliot's wallet, the vehicle topples into the river, an incident which appears to kill both occupants.

Rather than awakening to a day of reckoning, Elliot finds himself floating around the lab of a scientist studying the paranormal who agrees to "send [him] back".

Elliot, who had neglected to get life insurance before his accident, fears that his children will grow up impoverished without him. As a floating spirit that can only be seen in darkened rooms, Elliot returns to his house and concocts a scheme to somehow finish his business deal and be approved for health coverage before his body is discovered and news of his death is made public. His children are in on the plan and try their best to keep their father's secret and help him commit insurance fraud from beyond the grave.

Cast

*Bill Cosby as Elliot Hopper
*Kimberly Russell as Diane Hopper
*Denise Nicholas as Joan
*Barry Corbin as Mr. Emery Collins
*Dana Ashbrook as Tony Ricker
*Omar Gooding as Stuart

Critical reaction

Since its release, "Ghost Dad" has been universally ravaged by critics and has a 0% rating on movie rating website "RottenTomatoes.com". [ [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ghost_dad/ Rotten Tomatoes "Ghost Dad" reviews] , June 1, 2007]

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?
A stunning performance by the seven-year-old Michael Rathbun is quite possibly the only saving grace that this film offers. [ [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19900629/REVIEWS/6290301/1023 RogerEbert.com Chicago Sun-Times movie reviews] , June 1, 2007]

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. [ [http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ghostdad.htm Box Office Mojo movie box office performance] , June 1, 2007]

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.

Novelization

Infobox Book
name = Ghost Dad
translator =


image_caption = 1990 book cover
author = Mel Cebulash
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = USA
language = English
series =
subject =
genre = Comedy
publisher = Berkley; Mv Tie in edition
release_date = July 1, 1990
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages =
isbn = 978-0425124536
preceded_by =
followed_by =

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.

External links

*imdb title | id=0099654 | title=Ghost Dad

References