Ghost Town Review

When Americans mock the English there's almost always a jibe about England's supposed lack of oral hygiene. That's why I found it amusing to see Ricky Gervais - an Englishmen - as dentist Bertram Pincus, living in New York and tending to the teeth of Americans.

Now, Pincus is clearly not a people person and straight up doesn't care about anyone but himself. This seems to be working fine for him so far if you ignore the fact that he's a lonely, unliked prick. When Pincus undergoes a minor procedure, there is a "complication". The side effect of which being that he can now see the GHOSTs that loiter around TOWN. Pincus is weirded out by the dead folk, but seems more disturbed by the botched operation than the bothersome apparitions.

Since few people carefully plan their deaths, these ghosts have unfinished business^{+Like every other ghost ever} and Pincus being the only person that can see and hear them means that every ghost in the neighbourhood wants him to become their personal assistant and help them find eternal rest. Too bad Pincus doesn't give a rats ass. He doesn't care about the living and he sure as shit doesn't care about the dead. But you see these dead folk have precious little else to do - being dead and all - so they hound him relentlessly.
One of the more persuasive spectres by the name of Frank (Greg Kinnear) brokers a deal with Pincus that would see him left in peace, but requires him to befriend the dead man's wife (Tea Leoni). Cue laughs.

Ricky Gervais is well cast as Betram Pincus, dishing out laughs in typical form. He is also convincing during the dramatic moments and has no trouble selling the sad, lonely guy.
Greg Kinnear is adequate as Frank Herlihy, the dead, cheating husband that is looking to use Pincus to put the kibosh on his widow's current relationship. I like Greg and I wish I had something nicer to say about him, but I don't. Tea Leoni, while not the fox she was in The Naked Truth, is still an attractive, worthy leading lady. She plays Franks widow Gwen, a passionate Egyptologist who also happens to live in the same block of apartments as Pincus.

Given that this is a romantic comedy, Ghost Town requires the same suspension of disbelief as similar films though I must say that I found it less idealistic and therefore easier to swallow.^{+Yes, I realise that ghosts aren't real} If the egg of Ghost was fertilized by the Sixth Sense and placed in the uterus of a Rickey Gervais stand up routine to be brought to term, Ghost Town would be the result.^{+and Ricky Gervais would be the legal guardian} The premise of the film is by no means original, however the focus is not on exploring the premise, but about the characters relationships and interactions. It could have easily wound up as an unnecessary rehash, but it works.
The story is straight forward and well written. At times it's a tad cliche but good writing and performances make these moments bearable. The humour is delivered well throughout and there are a decent amount of out loud laughs to be had.

I'm giving Ghost Town four air conditioners out of five.