Ghost Dad (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.
Premise
Elliot (Cosby) is a businessman, widower, and workaholic with three children. When Elliot rides a cab, he is killed in an accident. He discovers that he is a ghost and realizes that he needed to spend time with his children rather than work so much. He must do this within three days before ascending to the afterlife.[1]
Cast
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
Critical reaction
Since its release, Ghost Dad has been universally ravaged by critics and has a rare 0% rating on movie rating website RottenTomatoes.com.[2]
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?[3]
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.[4]
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
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
References
