Ghost meets Little Man Tate: A dull movie concerned more with "family values," and happy endings than with entertaining its audience.

Rating: 1/10 (9 August 1999)

Boring, dull sentimental tripe--sadly it will be immensely popular because of this. An example of Hollywood's ability to take an interestingly dark plot and water it down with a touchy-feely child-pathos vehicle. One can really smell Disney's stinking hand behind this. Once young Cole realizes that he is merely a helper-monkey to the ghosts, he returns to his role in society, becoming popular, and beating out a child actor and schoolmate for the lead in a play. Clumsy and heavy-handed.
The film also contains a surprise ending that may be surprising to some, but seems extremely tacked-on and poorly handled. You can almost see the pitch for this one, "its like 'Ghost' meets 'Little Man Tate,' with just a little bit of 'Seven's' atmospherics thrown in for color. Sadly, the film's melange does not live up to even one of its parent films (with the exception of maybe the worst moments of 'Ghost').
This film is a testament to the dullness of the American thriller at the moment. The ghosts in the film are about as terrifying as the homeless people you'd see on a trip to New York, the tone of the film is unjustly gloomy, and the plot is so formulaic that, in instances, you can see its chemical symbols peeking through. See this only if you like cheap sentiment, mild fear, and a heartwarming, stomach-turningly sweet ending. Otherwise, see Blair Witch, which is a better example of of the power of horror.