Ghost Dad is a bit of a punchline. It was regarded as one of the worst movies of 1990. It's hard to argue with it. As a more passive viewer, I think I would have been pretty bored with the movie. As an adult, it held my interest, but it was one of the weirdest movies I've seen. It's not intentionally weird, like House was.
What makes this movie so absurdly weird is how it jumps between tones. One minute, Cosby is having a laugh with his co-workers in the elevator. The next minute, he's being driven around by a satanist cab-driver with some rear-screen projection. There's a pretty normal family comedy feel to a bunch of scenes, but suddenly, there will be the scene of Cosby threatening a guy calling his daughter. There's still some comedy to it, but it's… less than family-friendly.
The logical leaps in the movie are strange. It's easy to accept the idea that Cosby would be interested in ensuring that his children are able to survive after his death. That's an admirable goal, and that should have been the focus. Instead, Cosby is much more willing to spend his time simply performing his job. Somehow, despite working his job for something like 15 years, he has no pension, despite the existence of the pension plan. Most plans involve being partially vested after three years, fully vested in five. I'm not bothered by this lapse in logic, but it lends to the amount of stretching that this plot needed.
I found myself wondering what the movie would be like if Cosby weren't in it. He's not bad or anything, but his performance seems a little too stereotypical Cosby. It's possible that a different star could bring something else to the movie, that might give it a better fit.
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