About the supposed plot holes...

Rating: 10/10 (25 February 2001)

First off, I think this is a great movie, and my opinion of it hasn't diminished with multiple viewings. It's a shame Osment only nabbed a Best Supporting nod; whatever you thought of his performance here -- and the praise seems pretty unanimous -- he certainly carried enough of the movie to be considered in the Best Actor category.
Now, as for all these complaints about the supposed plot/logic holes in the movie...
*** SPOILERS ***
I can't believe how many comments here have echoed the same complaint: "How could Malcolm not know he was dead? Didn't he ever try to eat / talk to his wife / change his clothes / go the bathroom / etc?". I thought it was implicitly understood that Malcolm saw whatever he wanted/needed to see, in order to maintain the illusion of his former life. Whether he subconsciously knew the truth, I don't know, but it's the only explanation for how he could have ignored the above issues. In fact, the end montage showed an example of this, when Malcolm finally noticed the desk blocking the basement door (the same basement he'd been coming and going from every day).
Sure, it's a catch-all solution, but I don't think it's a cop-out; it even makes sense within the context of the story. Otherwise, as everyone's pointed out, how could he *not* know he was dead? He'd have realized something was wrong the first time he tried to talk to anyone, or touch anything.
And as for being able to break the window that one time... I thought the ghosts all had limited physical ability when they were under stress? Isn't that how Cole got his scratches and bruises?