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Ghost Dad

Play trailer Poster for Ghost Dad PG 1990 1h 24m Kids & Family Fantasy Play Trailer Watchlist
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6% Tomatometer 32 Reviews 32% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Elliot Hopper (Bill Cosby) is a widowed single dad who is utterly fixated on his family's financial well-being. He spends all his time working to secure a crucial business deal that would put his accounts in the black. However, this leaves his three children pining for his attention. After a fatal car accident, Hopper -- now a ghost -- must clinch the deal from the afterlife to secure his children's futures. Along the way, he discovers all the bonding he'd been missing when he was alive.
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Ghost Dad

Ghost Dad

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Critics Consensus

A startlingly misconceived effort from director Sidney Poitier and star Bill Cosby, Ghost Dad is a listless, glacially-paced comedy that's alternately schmaltzy and incomprehensible.

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Critics Reviews

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Peter Rainer Los Angeles Times 05/21/2013
1.5/5
I suppose you can't blame the star of one of TV's most popular series for attempting to conquer the movies -- yet again. What's perplexing is that Cosby keeps choosing vehicles that seem designed to sabotage the conquest. Go to Full Review
John Hartl Seattle Times 05/21/2013
1.5/4
Ghost Dad may be the dumbest major-studio movie of this none-too-bright summer. Go to Full Review
Desmond Ryan Philadelphia Inquirer 05/21/2013
2/4
The comedy represents a step up from the inane debacle of Leonard Part 6, but one has to concede that no other direction was possible. Go to Full Review
Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 11/18/2022
It's embarrassing to watch, due to how bad it is. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Kathey Clarey Fresno Bee 08/05/2021
[The screenplay] veers all over the place from slapstick comedy to serious discussions to downright ickiness. Go to Full Review
Richard Freedman Newhouse News Service 01/05/2018
Even under the direction of so distinguished and experienced a movie man as Sidney Poitier, Ghost Dad simply doesn't shape up as a really professional entertainment. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Stephen C @bob25009 May 13 What is Bill Cosby thinking, making this movie? The USA grossed over $20,900,000.00, with a worldwide gross of $25,400,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Stephanie K 10/02/2024 One of my favorite movies that gives me nostalgia and makes me relive the happier times in the world. See more Red T 02/14/2023 Terrible Editing as it feels like hijinks just happen to him once he's a ghost with no real flow. This also can't figure out if it wants to be a Ghost Story or a Family Comedy about a Single Dad trying to be a better father and the two don't mix at all. The cinematography actually is ok with well framed shots but its offset by dumb visual gag scenes and terrible ghost effects. The music is wonderfully dated late 80's pop songs but really it doesn't contribute much to the tone and is just generic overall. The pacing is subpar as the jokes work 5% of the time and the rest are terrible misses, toilet humor, or are predictable as anything. The only thing that helps is this is extremely short despite that, The acting by Cosby is terrible, he is too exaggerated and goofy to be taken seriously and too predictable to be taken comedically. The supporting cast is all just generic and forgettable. The scientist character is stupid and its amazingly lazy how he just figures out a cure offscreen and his father was a ghost also (TERRIBLE plot twist). This could have been a decent concept if it had tried to stick to a more serious tone for a supernatural story and a better lead. Honestly I can't recommend this to anyone besides people who are die hard Cosby fans and are curious. That's All. See more 03/21/2021 Even though it's a little predictable and has some swiss cheese plotholes, there is a certain charm to it. Try to separate the artist from the daterape here. See more 03/01/2021 The worst acting by William Henry Cosby, Jr.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more steve d 07/10/2020 Perhaps the only joy in it is the idea of Cosby's victims seeing him dead. See more Read all reviews
Ghost Dad

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Movie Info

Synopsis Elliot Hopper (Bill Cosby) is a widowed single dad who is utterly fixated on his family's financial well-being. He spends all his time working to secure a crucial business deal that would put his accounts in the black. However, this leaves his three children pining for his attention. After a fatal car accident, Hopper -- now a ghost -- must clinch the deal from the afterlife to secure his children's futures. Along the way, he discovers all the bonding he'd been missing when he was alive.
Director
Sidney Poitier
Producer
Terry Nelson
Screenwriter
Phil Alden Robinson, Brent Maddock, S.S. Wilson
Production Co
Universal Pictures
Rating
PG
Genre
Kids & Family, Fantasy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 24, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$20.9M
Runtime
1h 24m
Sound Mix
Surround
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