Casper [DVD] [1995]

Children’s fantasy comedy in which a young girl befriends a ghost. Dr. James Harvey (Bill Pullman), a ghost therapist, has been hired by the greedy owner of Whipstaff Manor to exorcise the house of its spirits, including the friendly, but lonely, Casper (voice of Malachi Pearson) and his crazy uncles Stretch (Joe Nipote), Stinkie (Joe Alaskey) and Fatso (Brad Garrett). While James’ daughter Kat (Christina Ricci) forms a friendship with Casper his three uncles create havoc as they do everything in their power to prevent their eviction.
The 1995 family film Casper tries to put a fun spin on the story of a paranormalist and widower (Bill Pullman) who moves into a new house with his daughter (Christina Ricci) and meets up with the ghost of a dead little boy. Based on the comic book about Casper the friendly ghost, the film is a dreary series of awkward interactions between live actors and computer effects, and you can almost see Pullman and Ricci reconsidering the project while on camera. A few cameo appearances from uncredited stars help things a bit. But there’s no way, based on this film, that one could have guessed that its director, Brad Silberling, would go on to make the exceptional drama City of Angels. This special edition DVD release includes a director’s commentary and exhaustive 47-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, plus games and DVD-ROM content for the kids. –Tom Keogh