Last week I decided to watch We Have A Ghost on Netflix. I had thought about watching it for a few days but always seemed to find something else to watch instead. It looked good but not that good, if you know what I mean. Well, if you think this movie is just going to be nothing but silliness [like I did] you are wrong. After finally watching, I thought about this movie all weekend, particularly some of the darker elements that I was not expecting to see in this type of movie. Because of that you might want to take it in before you let your kiddos watch. You know your kids best. Having said that, here is my We Have A Ghost review and why I feel you need to see it. Let me know if you agree or disagree.
We Have A Ghost Review: Why You Need To See It
Let me start by saying that we Have A Ghost doesn’t have nearly as high ratings on the various online review aggregates that I think it deserves. I really thought it was just going to be a silly, laughfest [which I am ok with], especially when most of the marketing I have seen seems to focus a lot on Jennifer Coolidge. Perhaps that is why? Maybe people wanted more of a comedy and more Jennifer Coolidge like the trailer might have lead them to expect? Again, I love hilarious movies just as much as the next person, and she is a dead guarantee for that, but she really isn’t in the movie all that much. But, We Have A Ghost still has a ton to offer viewers.
In actuality, this movie is equally funny, touching and thought provoking. It’s also dark in places and I feel it deals with many social issues prevalent in today’s society: most notably greed for money and/or notoriety at any cost. Because Ernest was a ghost and no longer human, very few people seemed to care about him for anything other than personal gain. Ernest becomes an internet sensation and everyone seems interested in cashing in, dehumanizing him [can you dehumanize something that used to be human?] into nothing more than a potential cash cow. Frank [Anthony Mackie] even got mad at one point and said [paraphrasing], “That should have been MY exclusive!” as if he owned Ernest [David Harbour] when information about him made it to the internet that Frank did not get to leak first.
We also have the lovely Tig Notaro [who I just praised in my Your Place Or Mine review] who I loved to despise in this movie. All her character could think about was climbing that corporate ladder, gaining clout in the scientific community and being “right.” She assumed all ghosts were evil [a hefty assumption being as her team never actually laid eyes on a ghost until Ernest] and she would do just about anything to prove that hypothesis correct. Finally, she realized who the real enemy was and had a chance to redeem herself.
The highlights of this movie are Ernest [David Harbour] and Kevin [Jahi Di’Allo Winston]. They both put in amazing performances and were absolutely brilliant together on screen. What really impressed me about Harbour’s performance was that he had very little dialogue, yet his facial expressions and mannerisms were able to tell the story of what he was thinking and feeling seamlessly. Winston appears to be an exceptional actor to be so young [he is 19 now, younger of course during filming]. He came across as very empathetic and caring, exactly what this role needed. If his performance here is any indication of what to expect from this young man in the future, I see a long and award filled career ahead of him.
You can watch We Have A Ghost now on Netflix.
Have you seen We Have A Ghost? What did you think?
