Casper

Director: Brad Silberling, ,
Starring: Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci, Cathy Moriarty, Eric Idle, Ben Stein, Don Novello, Fred Rogers, Terry Murphy, Chauncey Leopardi, Spencer Vrooman, Malachi Pearson, Ernestine Mercer, Doug Bruckner, Joe Nipote, Joe Alaskey,

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DVD Review

Quote: “Gritty realism is something that is very appealing to me, so any films that portray real gritty realism”, unquote.

Here is an extract from my profile on Whatdvd.net. As you can see, I have stressed clearly that hard, gritty realism is something I most enjoy in films. So is it some kind of joke that they send me ‘Casper’, the friendly ghost to review? Where’s the hard gritty realism in that? Is it where the little Yank entity tries to make friends with human beings, make “contact”? Or is it where the three “scary” ghosts are able to scare a whole construction crew off the site but not Kat (Ricci) and her geek dad (Pullman)? Or perhaps the most gritty realistic part is where his wife comes back as an angel but dressed in red!? Red being the colour of the devil and evil and all that. But after this encounter with the “angel” (Satan), a brief meeting with the after life, a conversation with the spirit of his dead wife, unable to see that he has just established contact with the dead, he decides to have a funky dance with his daughter and a third entity going by the name of Casper who looks like a translucent sperm with eyes. I doubt you want to read the rest of the review unless you actually want to buy this DVD, or you are six years old. In that case you might be interested in watching such films as, ‘The Lion King’, ‘The Little Mermaid’ and ‘The Return of The King’.

‘Casper’ has recently been released on DVD to try and squeeze out a little more profit so Universal can fund their sweatshops in Southern Mongolia. Anyways the story begins with an evil Cruella DeVille type woman, Carrogan (Moriarty) who inherits a big mansion seafront property from her father. She then hires nomads; Dr James Harvey, ghost therapist, and his daughter Kathleen, outcast, to rid the place of ghosts after encountering a talking, floating sperm. Well they befriend all of the sperms and make the house their home. That’s about it really, doesn’t get much more exciting. Carrogan gets her comeuppance, Casper fertilizes without an egg and without the nine month growth process to become a twelve year old boy for a couple of hours and then they all live well and dance through the night. It’s a fantastic, uplifting adventure; fun for all the family – except parents and children above the age of ten.

Special Features

The DVD features give you the opportunity to watch a deleted scene, a further scene if the whole film wasn’t enough for you and there is also a commentary by the director incase the youngsters would like to watch the film again, listening to the director’s insights and learning about how the film was made. I’m sure they will be fascinated.

Go and buy this DVD if you have a little child who likes to talk to ghosts. It is also worth having if you feel it is the time to talk to your child about sex education. You know the stork story is a bit old now and your kids will know it’s bullsh*t so tell them about Casper the floating sperm. It is sure to leave them bewildered and occupied in thought for days. PEACE

J.D. Lafrance

J.D. is a freelance writer who is currently doing research for a book on the films of Michael Mann. He likes reading anything written by Jack Kerouac, James Ellroy, J.D. Salinger, Harlan Ellison or Thomas Pynchon. J.D. is currently addicted to the T.V. series 24 and enjoys drinking a lot of Sprite. This is not a blatant plug for the beverage but if they ever decided to give him a lifetime supply he certainly wouldn’t turn them down.
view all DVD reviews by JD Lafrance

 

Rating: 18%

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