Ghost Town
Review by Brandon Fibbs | posted 9/19/2008
 1 of 3
Some of my favorite experiences at the movies have come as a result of stumbling across something wholly unexpected. Movies that catch us by surprise often crystallize into some of our most cherished cinematic experiences. We usually know, more or less, if the movie we're about to see will delight or disappoint. Usually it's just a matter of discovering the degree. But with the new fantasy comedy Ghost Town, the word I keep hearing on everyone's lips, critics and moviegoers alike, is "surprise." And indeed it is the best possible kind of surprise—a film at once hilarious and heartfelt.
We are predisposed to dislike the misanthropic Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais). After all, he's a dentist. Pincus' favorite time of the day is when he inserts his barbaric tools into his patients' mouths to stop their incessant talking. Pincus is rude and profoundly anti-social. It's not that he hates crowds, he says, just the people in them. So when a near-death experience during a routine hospital procedure allows him to see dead people, Pincus is suddenly overwhelmed with attention. It turns out Manhattan is overrun with ghosts (more ghosts than the living, it seems) seeking to remedy the unfinished business of their lives before they can slip away into the afterlife. And they see Pincus as their liaison to the living world.
Ricky Gervais as the dentist Bertram Pincus
Some spirits are more persistent than others. Enter Frank (Greg Kinnear), a philandering jerk who tells Pincus he has to break up the impending marriage between his widow Gwen (Téa Leoni), an Egyptologist who, ironically enough, works with the dead, and her new beau Richard (Billy Campbell), a third-world humanitarian lawyer. Do this, Frank says, and he and the thousands of other pleading poltergeists haunting Pincus' life will disappear forever. Reluctantly, Scrooge, er, Pincus agrees.
We know how this will end, of course. Pincus, the rotund curmudgeon, falls head over heels for the vivacious Gwen, who, coincidentally, lives in his building. It turns out Pincus has had his own fair share of heartbreak, and has isolated himself from the world in an effort to keep himself from being hurt again. But the more time Pincus spends with Gwen, the more he finds himself coming out of his shell and feeling human again.
Ghost Town isn't breaking any new ground. We've been here before, from Ghost to the more recent Over Her Dead Body. Fortunately, the time-honored formula is just dry and sardonic enough to feel reasonably fresh again. The uproarious Gervais surely deserves the lion's share of the credit.
Greg Kinnear as Frank Herlihy
Ghost Town may finally make Gervais a household name in America. The beloved star of the British The Office and Extras (not to mention an uproarious set of podcasts) certainly has a cult following in the U.S., but is still largely undiscovered. That tragedy may finally be rectified. Like Robin Williams in Aladdin, Gervais gives one the impression that Ghost Town director David Koepp took back the script, told his star roughly what the scene was about, and then let him go.
Browse More Movies
CT Movies Home Page | Now Showing | New on Video | All Reviews
Coming Soon | Discussion Guides | Interviews | Commentary
News & Misc. | Special Sections | About Us
Your Feedback | About Us | CT Mag Home Page
| |
|
