WE HAVE A GHOST (2023)

Studio:     Netflix
Director:    Christopher Landon
Writer:     Christopher Landon
Producer:  Marty Bowen, Dan Halsted
Stars:     David Harbour, Jahi Winston, Tig Notaro, Erica Ash, Jennifer Coolidge, Anthony Mackie, Faith Ford, Niles Fitch, Isabella Russo, Steve Coulter

Review Score:

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Summary:

The discovery of an odd ghost haunting their house thrusts a family into a mystery that makes them social media sensations.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

One year after a family flees the home in fright, Frank and Melanie Presley move into a reportedly haunted house with their 16-year-old son Kevin and his older brother Fulton. Kevin discovers the attic is haunted by a harmless ghost whom he befriends. Because the ghost is mute and has amnesia regarding his previous life, Kevin assumes his name is Ernest since he wears a bowling shirt embroidered with that name.

The rest of the family eventually finds out about the ghost. Although Kevin wants to help Ernest recover his memories so he can become unstuck in the afterlife, Frank sees the entity as a mere marketing opportunity that can make money for their struggling family. Posting footage of an actual ghost on social media makes the Presleys and Ernest viral sensations.

Kevin’s crush Joy Yoshino, his new next-door neighbor who is also a classmate, helps Kevin research the ghost’s identity. The duo discovers the house was once owned by an Ernest Scheller. Kevin assumes this man must be the ghost, although they are unable to find a record of his death.

As the family and their ghost’s popularity continues to grow, TV medium Judy Romano comes to the house to record an episode of her show. Dismissive of his father’s attempts to exploit the ghost for personal gain, Kevin plays a prank by having Ernest terrify Judy and her crew with excessive paranormal activity.

Desperate to reclaim her status as the former lead on a classified CIA operation to capture a ghost, but now a struggling author, parapsychologist Dr. Leslie Monroe uses the prospect of capturing Ernest to get reinstated by Deputy Director Arnold Schipley. Dr. Monroe visits Frank and Melanie to negotiate a voluntary surrender of Ernest, whom she claims is dangerous, but Frank angrily kicks her out of his house.

Upon learning Ernest Scheller used to own a local dive bar, Kevin and Joy convince the ghost to go there with them to see if it jogs his memory. Ernest and the two teens escape a pursuing crowd of fervent fans on their way to the bar. Once there, the bartender provides them with a photograph of Ernest with another man, who they later identify as the real Ernest Scheller.

On their way back home, seeing a child playing in the park causes Ernest to remember he had a daughter named June. Ernest tries approaching the girl, which causes her to panic in recorded footage that turns public opinion against Ernest. The appearance of Ernest becoming threatening gives Dr. Monroe an excuse to take Ernest by force.

Armed government agents swarm the house, but Ernest goes on the run with Kevin and Joy in Fulton’s car. By promising to leave their family alone once Ernest is captured, Dr. Monroe pressures Frank and Melanie into making a public broadcast claiming Ernest abducted Kevin and Joy.

Ernest helps the two teens escape and outrun a dogged sheriff and his deputy as they make their way to Oklahoma where the real Ernest now lives. While stopped at a motel, Ernest coaxes Kevin into having a romantic moment with Joy.

Kevin and Joy finally find elderly Ernest Scheller living with his invalid wife Ramona. Ernest identifies the ghost as Randy McGovern, a friend who married Ramona’s sister Evelyn, who died giving birth to June. Ernest claims Randy was so distraught by his wife’s death that he abandoned June with them before presumably going off to commit suicide. Kevin finds it hard to believe the ghost would do either of those things.

The ghost materializes to confront Ernest Scheller. Having been tipped off by the bartender who provided the photograph, armed government agents interrupt by storming Ernest’s house. Dr. Monroe takes Randy’s ghost into custody and imprisons him in a special cell in a CIA facility. Now despondent, Kevin returns home where Frank apologizes for not having been a better father.

Randy finally remembers that Ernest Scheller actually murdered him so he and his wife Ramona could raise June as their own daughter. Having a change of heart, Dr. Monroe allows Randy out of his cell and back into the world.

Suspecting that the family figured out what really happened, Ernest Scheller comes to the Presley house to kill them. Several struggles ensue amidst gunfire until Randy’s ghost returns in time to rescue Kevin. Frank finishes off Ernest by pushing him out of the attic window.

In the aftermath, the family moves out of the house. At a lakeside, Kevin and Frank reunite Randy with his adult daughter June. Following his final farewells with June and Kevin, Randy’s ghost fades away.

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Review:

I’m starting to think I should walk back some of the criticism directed at Netflix over the years for their original features division basically becoming an assembly line of mostly milquetoast movies.  They were never going to create a pop culture juggernaut like “Star Wars” or “Harry Potter.”  They were never going to match the widespread success of “Avatar” or “Jurassic Park.”  With their marketing mentality that a new film can only be fresh for one weekend before the next flavor takes its place, and with tight turnarounds that limit evergreen potential, Netflix has almost exclusively followed formulas for producing movies that are functionally “fine” and nothing more.

And maybe that’s ok.  When you get right down to it, “fine” describes an overwhelming majority of all the films ever made.  Netflix has carved out a comfortable corner in the streaming space by rolling like a Katamari Damacy ball, assimilating multiple mediocre titles into its ever-growing blob of forgettable filler.  Instead of expecting them to churn out a true hit or birth a sustainable franchise, maybe standards should lower to the mid-tier level Netflix actually plays on.

Reading that back, defeated cynicism comes across much louder than intended.  I really am coming to terms with Netflix features being mere background noise to accompany passively playing a game on your phone.  Marginal movies are simply their brand.  And I’m coming to terms with the idea that maybe they don’t need to aim any higher.  Now that they’ve already collected a couple of awards, what would be a reason to do so?

“We Have a Ghost” very much hits for par on Netflix’s signature course, a patch of yellow grass near the highway where casual players kill time after work while posh professionals live the high life at Pebble Beach.  Like countless other original efforts under the big N’s banner, “We Have a Ghost” pours its foundation with the concrete of a simple concept, builds its frame with a journeymen crew turning in competent work, and sells the finished product by attaching a few bankable actors that general audiences will tune in for when they have nothing better to do and only need to press one button on the remote.

The Presleys are a typical family looking for a reset after some financial trouble.  They get their new start in an old house that happens to be haunted.  The hitch is, their ghost “Ernest” is more Casper than Captain Howdy.  A mute amnesiac with no ill intent, Ernest simply got stuck on his way through the afterlife, and he needs a little nudge to get where he’s going.

Kevin Presley is a typical angsty teenager.  Joy is his typical crush, a literal girl next door with the combination of spunky street smarts and nerdy computer skills that can help Kevin track down piecemeal exposition to uncover Ernest’s true identity.  Helping Ernest recover his memories gets complicated though, because Kevin’s father Frank sees the entity as a lucrative merchandising opportunity that can make their family internet famous.  Ernest and Kevin quickly become unwitting social media celebrities, attracting attention from adoring admirers, but also from dogged CIA operatives determined to capture a real ghost.

Hijinks, of course, ensue.  Also of course, they come complete with the classic components included in every beige Build-a-Film box.  Throwback needle drops whose lyrics inject contextual humor into onscreen action.  Cameos from notable names playing stereotypical side characters like Jennifer Coolidge’s self-absorbed TV psychic and Faith Ford’s overly chipper realtor.  Then there is music by Bear McCreary and production design from Jennifer Spence, two tireless workhorses whose reliable contributions consistently provide instant polish to any production.  Don’t forget a couple of tender bonding moments between Kevin and his father, and between Kevin and Joy, to highlight how hard it can be to relate to parents with drastically different worldviews.

“We Have a Ghost” positions itself as a gateway horror-comedy meant for family-friendly fun and light frights, although the last act takes a pretty dark turn for something aspiring to be an Amblin-esque adventure.  It’s one thing to put people in danger; that’s essential storytelling.  It’s another thing for that danger to be gun violence under the specter of a terrible child abduction; that’s not quite the thrill mom and dad might want for an enjoyable evening on the couch with their kids.

Speaking of family-friendly, I also don’t know how many families have ample time together for airy entertainment that clocks in north of two hours.  That’s a lengthy duration to overdevelop a short story (“Ernest” by Geoff Manaugh).  Many of those minutes, like montages of TikTok reactions and consecutive shots of hallway explorations, make a strong case for keeping a sharper pair of scissors in the editing room.  As just one example, the whole backstory of Tig Notaro’s disgraced parapsychologist slumming it as an ignored author could go away entirely.  But I assume someone didn’t want to sacrifice the gags that come from crackpots pestering her at a book signing, since “We Have a Ghost’s” short supply of laughs needs all the goofs it can get.

Now that we’re speaking about the film’s personality, what actually keeps “We Have a Ghost” treading lukewarm water instead of riding wild waves is its aversion to getting too quirky.  Being bolder with its comedy would have turned up the temperature but, landing where a lot of Netflix features often do in the end, “We Have a Ghost” settles for their standard of being “alright, I guess.”  It’s a flat 50/100 movie if ever there was one, and Netflix has certainly had far more than one.

Review Score: 50

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