Ghost Dad

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Ghost Dad

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 mins.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$18 million
Gross revenue	$27 million
IMDb profile

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.

1 Plot
2 Critical reaction
3 Box Office
4 Release
- 4.1 VHS
- 4.2 DVD
5 Novelization
6 External links
7 References

[edit] 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.

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, the driver releases the steering wheel. The taxi slams into the barrier of a bridge and teeters over a river. As Elliot frantically tries to exit, 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.

[edit] Critical reaction

Since its release, Ghost Dad has been universally ravaged by critics and has a 0% rating on movie rating website RottenTomatoes.com.^[1]

Rating the movie 1/2 star out of four, noted 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. ^[2]

[edit] Box Office

Opening Weekend: $4,803,480
Domestic: $24,707,633
Foreign: $714,000
Worldwide: $25,421,633^[3]

[edit] Release

[edit] VHS

Ghost Dad was released on VHS by Universal Studios on March 1, 1992.

[edit] DVD

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] Novelization

Ghost Dad
1990 book cover
Author	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