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Beneath the charming, old-fashioned, Capra-esque humor, Ghost Town has some rather important things to say. And it says them without the usual sort of preachy, heavy-handed morality one usually gets in fables of this nature.

Despite being a comedy, Ghost Town knows when (and how) to take itself seriously. One cannot escape the film's mournful implications. After all, many of the characters in the film died tragically, as Shakespeare said:

"Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd,
No reckoning made, but sent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head:
O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!"

Pincus tries to keep Richard from marrying one of his neighbors

Ghost Town does not make light of Frank's infidelity. It is not the punch line for a joke as it might have been in other films. Pincus clearly thinks very little of the philandering phantom. The emotional damage caused by the betrayal of Frank's marital vows manifests itself in Gwen. Frank thinks the affair he engaged in while living went unnoticed by his wife. But he was wrong. Ghost Town handles this potentially dark and unsettling revelation with genuine delicacy and pathos.

At one point, Pincus describes his failed love life to Gwen as boring and ordinary. But Gwen gently chastises him, telling him that all our individual stories are important. Sure, they may not be dramatic or larger than life when compared to some other people, but they are ours and as such, are profoundly important.

But without a doubt the overriding message of the film is the one that takes place in the life of an anti-social man desperately out of touch with his own humanity. As he is immersed in the cares and concerns of the ghosts who haunt him—cares and concerns largely for those they left behind rather than their own selfish desires—Pincus learns, from the dead, how to live again. What does being a jerk get you, Ghost Town asks. Only those things done for truly last. The final lines of the film are simply lovely.

Funny and heartwarming, this love letter to New York City's Upper East Side is refreshingly free of flashy special effects and paranormal gags. It is a film about relationships—the comical and the pitiful. And how those relationships echo through eternity long after we are gone.

Talk About It

1. The film's message is that a life lived for self is pointless. Do you agree that the only satisfaction we'll find in life is living for others? What Scripture verses reflect this?
2. Do you ever feel that your life's story is boring and ordinary? What do you see, however, when looking at it through God's eyes?
3. Long after Frank has died, the repercussions of his sins ripple through the lives of those he touched. Do you believe your actions have eternal consequences?

The Family Corner

Ghost Town is rated PG-13 for some strong language, sexual humor and drug references. The language is infrequent, but prickly when it appears. Although there are no overtly sexual situations, there are discussions about the sexual organs of a mummified Egyptian ruler. The aforementioned drug references relate to prescription medication, not illegal narcotics (though the person seeking them wants them for decidedly other than authorized purposes).

Photos © Copyright Dreamworks/Paramount

© Brandon Fibbs subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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