Character Analysis
Charles' former business partner, Maxie Dean, is probably the least likeable living person in the entire movie. That's really saying something. Just look how he treats Charles when they talk on the phone:
CHARLES: Maxie, have I not always made you money? I think that's the only real question here.
MAXIE: Well, Charles, nobody made me money like you. I mean before your nerves went, you were a demon. It's just that Winter River, Connecticut is, if you'll forgive me, nowhere. I mean, why would I wanna invest that kind of money in an old building way the hell up there?
CHARLES: It's not a building. That's the beauty of it. These people don't know the value of their property. I can buy the whole town.
MAXIE: Oh, then we own a whole town in the middle of nowhere.
CHARLES: Max, you've got to come up here and see. And bring Sarah.
MAXIE: Yeah, all right, Charles. It's just that I am kind of busy here.
CHARLES: Uh, just a minute, Max.
MAXIE: Now, listen. Enough of this talk about visiting, okay? I gotta go. You take it easy up there, big fellow. Good-bye.
CHARLES: Max, wait, wait, wait—
MAXIE: Putz.
Charles clearly doesn't want to have anything to do with Winter River… until he finds out there are ghosts involved. Even then, he isn't interested in making an investment in Charles' supernatural amusement park idea. He just wants to give his wife a fun and spooky night out.
That's why we don't feel too sorry for Maxie when Betelgeuse sends him and his wife crashing through the ceiling.
Kudos to Robert Goulet, matinee idol and Broadway musical star (Camelot) in his day, winner of a Tony, Emmy, and Grammy, for agreeing to look ridiculous in a small role in this fun romp.