Have You Been Watching...? We Have A Ghost (2023)

 

I’d seen some of the pre-publicity for the Netflix original movie “We Have A Ghost” and it certainly contained enough to warrant inclusion on this blog. A family comedy about a ghost haunting a house? Absolutely! A cast full of cult TV & Movie stars? YES!  It stars genre icons David Harbour (Stranger Things, Black Widow, Hellboy), Tig Notaro (Star Trek: Discovery, Army of the Dead) and Anthony Mackie (Marvel Cinematic Universe as The Falcon). Is it the winner I think it should be? Read on…

Besides the big names, this comedy also stars Jahi Di’Allo Winston as the movies main character Kevin (also from the rather poor genre movie The Dead Don’t Die with Adam Driver and Bill Murray) and Erica Ash (Kendra from Scary Movie 5).

Our plot is that The Presley family, of whom Ash and Mackie portray the parents and Winston as their son (the other brother played by Niles Fitch whose credits include St Vincent – again with Bill Murray) who all move into what can only be described as a “fixer-upper” of a house. Kevin, a bit of a loner, finds a ghost in the attic. The ghost, portrayed by Harbour, can’t speak but his bowling shirt bears the name “Ernest” and despite trying to scare Kevin, the ghost and the boy become friends. Once Kevin’s brother and father find out about Ernest, they start posting videos online and the family, via Ernest, become internet sensations. This draws the attention of Dr Monroe, who once worked for a now-defunct government department researching ghosts. This further leads to more young teen movie escapades as Kevin and best friend Joy (Isabella Russo) try to explore Ernest’s history and resolve his issues so he can move on.

I will TRY not to spoil things here, but I’m putting a spoiler warning anyway as it’s going to be difficult in a movie like this.

Harbour is nothing short of brilliant in a role that brings him very close to Nicolas Cage in a certain category (you will understand this if you have ever seen Willy’s Wonderland* or see the very bottom of this review), how he manages to convey so much with so little really shows he is way more than just Sheriff Hopper. The always wonderful-to-watch Tig Notaro plays quite an important role in this movie, but once she fulfils her role’s purpose, it’s a shame she just disappears from the movie, after a rather startling change in character. Anthony Mackie, unfortunately, plays a generic dad character and doesn’t get much of a chance to shine. However, Winston is absolutely endearing, bringing a genuine vulnerability to Kevin. The always watchable Jennifer Coolidge makes a brief appearance as a medium and she steals all the scenes she appears in.

So, those are the plusses. As with a lot of Netflix movies recently, there are a bunch of negatives to go with the positives. In this case, the movie is far too long. Running at 127 minutes, there are huge chunks of this movie that can easily be excised (pun intended) and still tell a coherent story. Most obviously, to me, is the rather uncomfortable Motel scene, which bearing in mind we are watching children, is creepy and not in the spooky way. The whole Government Department material brings nothing to the story other than give our heroes something to do and what happens to Tig Notaro’s character is a total travesty. There is also one other scene involving out heroes in a car chase with the police that sits awkwardly too. The scene shows the clear death of one of the police, caused by our heroes, but then next scene shows the officer up and about. Maybe I’m nit-picking but there is no way that character walked away from that incident(or maybe they didn’t and that last shot of them is their ghost?). As a writer of a certain age, I found the Social Media section a bit boring and unrealistic. If there really was evidence of ghosts, I think it'd draw more attention that a few fans and a solo department from the government (although the "Jesus" moments ARE hilarious!)

Apparently, the film is based on a short story called “Ernest” by Geoff Manaugh. I haven’t read it so I have no idea what the movie does differently.

As it stands, the movie is “okay”, but if it had been tightened up, maybe by 30 minutes or so, it could have been great. It is frustrating that such an opportunity is wasted. You would not regret spending time in watching this movie, but you may feel that you could’ve done something more constructive in the time.

Year: 2023

Availability: currently streaming on Netflix (as of Feb 2023)

HYBW rating: 6/10               

 

*The Willy’s Wonderland reference: Both Nic Cage and David Harbour don’t speak in either movie. Although Harbour does make moaning noises in this one.