Day 250: Casper (1995)

1-6c0nejhmrt6-2qqshepfgqSometimes I have to pinch myself when I am doing an entry for the blog because I can’t believe that I have been committed for 250 straight days now. So for the 250TH day, I wanted to watch something special and I chose to watch Casper which was based off of one my favorite cartoons as a child. Carrigan Crittenden (Cathy Moriarty) is money hungry so when she finds out her neurotic father has passed away she goes and finds out that she has inherited an old house with secret treasure inside. When she goes to the house, she discovers that there’s a ghost inside and she decides to hire a ghost shrink named Dr. James Harvey (Bill Pullman). Harvey takes the job and he takes his daughter Kat (Christina Ricci) who befriends the friendly ghost named Casper (Malachi Pearson) while her dad tries to deal with the other three unruly ghosts. The film also stars Eric Idle (Monty Python And The Holy Grail) as Dibbs, Joe Nipote (Viper) as Stretch, Joe Alaskey (Duck Dodgers) as Stinkie, Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond) as Fatso, Amy Brenneman (Heat) as Amelia Harvey, Devon Sawa (Final Destination) as Casper in Human Form, Chauncey Leopardi (The Sandlot) as Nicky, Jessica Wesson (Milk Money) as Amber, and the film was directed by Brad Silberling (City Of Angels).

casper_cookingBelieve it or not, it has taken me 21 years to see this film and to be perfectly honest with all of you I have no idea why. The one thing that I can say about the film adaptation of Casper is that it was fun to watch. You can’t expect an Oscar winning film out of it, but a film that you just have fun watching. This was the type of film that really relied on slapstick comedy to drive the laughs especially with the ghostly trio or the unruly three (whatever you want to call them) and Eric Idle who is a master of it. The one thing I liked about the film that I don’t remember happening with the cartoon was Casper crossing back over to be a human. I thought that it was a very cool move to imagine what he would have looked like as a human being or a fleshy as they call us. I loved seeing Christina Ricci in the film although every time I see her I just think that she is Wednesday Adams all grown up. I don’t know if I have a favorite scene from the film because it was just so enjoyable to watch. The scene where he makes breakfast is pretty good and I even enjoyed the sequence with Carrigan as a ghost as well. The film is currently available on HBOGO as long as you have a subscription to that, but I’m sure you can find it just about anywhere. I am going to recommend this film especially if you were a fan of the cartoon. I am going to give the film an B for a final grade.