Editing Ghost (1990 film) (section)

===Critical response===
{{quote box
| align = right
| width = 25em
| quote = Most of the reviews for ''Ghost'' were so-so. The critics didn’t love it, but we were the number one film in the country for 1990, and became one of the most commercially successful films of all time.
| source = —Bruce Joel Rubin<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/ghost-screenwriter-bruce-joel-rubin-making-of-1235008913/|title=Harrison Ford Turned Down 'Ghost,' Frank Oz Almost Directed, and More Behind-the-Scenes Stories
|website=[[IndieWire]]|date=May 24, 2024 |access-date=November 12, 2024|last1=Hemphill|first1=Jim}}</ref>
}}
''Ghost'' initially received mixed reviews from critics upon release.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Avella |first=Frank J. |date=July 21, 2020 |title=Review: Whoopi Goldberg's Tour de Farce Performance Makes 'Ghost' Worth The Revisit |url=https://www.edgemedianetwork.com/story/293782 |access-date=March 13, 2025 |work=EDGE Media Network |quote=Jerry Zucker's "Ghost" opened to mixed reviews}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Nicky Otis |date=November 15, 2024 |title=Cinema Survey 9 |url=https://www.splicetoday.com/moving-pictures/cinema-survey-9 |access-date=March 13, 2025 |work=[[Splice Today]] |quote=a sleeper hit with mixed reviews}}</ref> ''Ghost'' has an approval rating of {{RT data|score}} based on {{RT data|count}} professional reviews on the [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], with an average rating of {{RT data|average}}. Its critical consensus reads, "''Ghost'' offers viewers a poignant romance while blending elements of comedy, horror, and mystery, all adding up to one of the more enduringly watchable hits of its era."<ref>{{Cite Rotten Tomatoes |id={{RT data|rtid|noprefix=y}} |type=m |title=Ghost (1990) |access-date={{RT data|access date}}}}{{RT data|edit}}</ref> [[Metacritic]] (which uses a weighted average) assigned ''Ghost'' a score of 52 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.<ref>{{Cite Metacritic |id=ghost |type=movie |title=Ghost (1990) |access-date=December 13, 2021}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |date=December 20, 2018 |title=Movie Title Search |website=Cinemascore |access-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date=December 20, 2018}}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] gave ''Ghost'' two-and-a-half out of four stars in his review for the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'', regarding the film as "no worse an offender than most ghost movies, I suppose. It assumes that even after death we devote most of our attention to unfinished business here on Earth, and that danger to a loved one is more important to a ghost than the infinity it now inhabits." He was also critical of the film's "obligatory action climax", the "ridiculous visitation from the demons of hell", the "slow study" of the Molly character, and the "single best scene" in which Sam overtakes Oda Mae's body to caress Molly: "In strict logic, this should involve us seeing Goldberg kissing Moore, but of course the movie compromises and shows us Swayze holding her - too bad, because the logical version would actually have been more spiritual and moving."<ref>{{cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=July 13, 1990 |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ghost-1990 |title=Ghost |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=March 2, 2018}}</ref>

David Ansen of ''[[Newsweek]]'', despite finding the ending too sentimental, praised the film as "a zippy pastiche that somehow manages to seem fresh even though it's built entirely out of borrowed parts."<ref>{{cite news |title=Immaterial Affections |magazine=Newsweek |url=http://www.newsweek.com/1990/07/15/immaterial-affections.html# |access-date=October 4, 2010}}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine called the film "an odd creation – at times nearly smothering in arty somberness, at others veering into good, wacky fun."<ref>{{cite news |title=Ghost |magazine=Variety |date=December 31, 1989 |url=https://variety.com/1989/film/reviews/ghost-2-1200428412/#! |access-date=October 4, 2010}}</ref> Goldberg received considerable praise for her performance. In a review for ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[Janet Maslin]] comments "Ms. Goldberg plays the character's amazement, irritation and great gift for back talk to the hilt. This is one of those rare occasions on which the uncategorizable Ms. Goldberg has found a film role that really suits her, and she makes the most of it."<ref>{{cite news |title=Ghost (1990) |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 13, 1990 |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE2DB1439F930A25754C0A966958260 |access-date=March 19, 2012|last1=Maslin |first1=Janet }}</ref> Even some critics who gave negative reviews of ''Ghost'' extended praise to Goldberg's work in the film.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/ghost-100623/| title=Ghost| date=July 13, 1990| magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|last1=Travers|first1=Peter|access-date=November 12, 2024}}</ref>