Fantasma e CIA

It's overly long and goes to some very random places narratively but We Have a Ghost is still a really fun 80s Amblin throwback that has plenty of charming moments and humour that hits more than it misses. It's definitely Christopher Landon's weakest film in a while but thankfully still isn't bad by any means.

The cast are all good in their undemanding roles that require them to go through the usual stereotypes and motions and David Harbour is obviously the standout with the hardest job. He has to be extremely innocent and emotive purely through movement and he pulls it off effortlessly.

Christopher Landon's direction is really good, the film has some fun set pieces combined with the right songs to make them even better and the overall earnesty of the film wins you over by the end. The CG isn't anything spectacular but it's convincing enough and rarely pushes its own limitations.

So, the movies "alright".

It's competently directed, acted, and it looks decent. The issue I have is it's waaaaaay long. For what the movie was presented to be, it should've been about and hour and forty five minutes TOPS. With a running time of two hours and six minutes... the film is extremely difficult to get through.

And... the tone is all over the place. Is it a comedy? A drama? A thriller? A mystery? It tried to be all of these things. I've seen a lot of movies on Netflix like this recently. Is it a Netflix thing? Or just something Hollywood is trying on for size. Hopefully they cut the crap because it doesn't work.

The main hero, Kevin, is really likeable. And I appreciate that. Performances are good, but the jumbled mess is not the casts fault. It rests with the filmmakers. Netflix should've advertised this as more of a drama revolving around a family. There ARE funny moments, but the preview makes it seem like this will carry throughout the entirety of the movie and it doesn't.

It's average and gets a higher rating for me because I'm a fan of David Harbour.

. I had actually thought this was going to be a series, but it ended up being a 2-hour movie.

The story was that very good-kids discover a ghost in the attic of their new home, the Father & older son exploit the haunting, the younger son tries to help the ghost & the Mom is terrified, avoiding the ghost at all costs. That's about it.

Well this movie is full of the usual tropes found in any movie of this genre, but the special effects of the ghost and the guy who plays the ghost (David Harbour) are outstanding. The younger son is a typical withdrawn teenager in a new school and he quickly pairs up with the adorable but wacky girl next door. The mystery of the ghost's story is easy to figure out & wraps up nicely in 127 min.

Kids, teens are definitely the target audience here, since so much of the story is completely implausible-and I don't mean the "ghost" part but the real-life part. For example, when the cop's car gets wrecked during a chase scene & he stands in the middle of the road shaking his fist as the kids get away. Sorry, there's no way police would simply give up without pursuing 2 teens on the run!

One aspect that rang so true was how fast social media stories spread & how info is distorted & editorialized by idiots.

Overall it was fun & cute, all actors were excellent (although the adult women were EMACIATED & skeletal) the sets were great and the lighting, photography & editing top notch.

This was written & directed by Christopher Landon, Michael Landon's son. He seems to be interested in the paranormal genre and this one has the gentle feel of Touched By An Angel moreso than haunting/horror.

I didn think I woud like it, but it was pretty good.

The characters were very likable, they weren't funny just to be funny but really believable.

No over the top scary stuff, just super entertaining to watch. I did wonder about the ages of some of the characters .....he looks more like a granddad, but okay I guess, it is possible for a man to have a child later in life. I'm not a great fan of Tig, as she is usually acting the same grumpy person... but I really liked her in this movie. Same goes for Jennifer, she was as I was expecting her to be, but perfect for the role.

I would love to see more movies like this on Netflix. From start to finish a great watch.

It seems Netflix are determined to releasing new weekly movies that are mediocre and too long. This easily, just like other Netflix-films like the recent Jason Mamoa films Slumberland and Sweet Girl or the very recent Your place or mine, could have been 90 minutes. I'm confident I would have enjoyed this film much more if it was shorter - now I just feel numb.

Sometimes a light comedy can be just what I crave. It can have medium reviews but in a certain mood, a "medium" film can be perfect. But for two hours? Landons previous films in the Happy Death Day-franchise + Freaky are much more succesful in being enjoyable.