Ghost Town

Ghost Town feels very much like a cinematic stew. Antisocial and repellant dentist Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) has a traumatizing near-death experience and can see dead people (The Frighteners). The ghosts can’t move on due to unfinished business (Casper and many others) so they need his help (The Sixth Sense). The ghosts make day-to-day life nearly impossible (What Women Want, not with ghosts, but with women’s thoughts). Frank (Greg Kinnear), enlists Bertram’s help to save his former wife (Tea Leoni) from re-marrying. If Bertram does this, the ghosts will stop bothering him (a bad deal for the other ghosts if I’ve ever heard one). However, along the way, the ghosts help Bertram finally realize he needs to change (A Christmas Carol).

Doesn’t really sound like it’s brimming with originality, does it? Surprisingly, this mélange of influence doesn’t hurt the film. Like all genres, the romantic comedy has its conventions and Ghost Town is smart enough to steal from other genres to help it transcend other cut-and-paste romantic comedies. The absence of modern conventions in romantic comedy (the lack of pratfalls, gross-out gags, etc.) make this film feel like it belongs with the classics of the genre from the 30’s and 40’s, like The Shop Around the Corner and The Philadelphia Story (though it’s not quite as good as those films). And it’s nice to have a film that is aimed towards adults as opposed to teenage girls.

Director David Koepp does an admirable job leaving his action/thriller history behind him and letting the story control the film, not the visuals. The real draw of the film is Gervais, who is perfect for his role. He has made his career on being pompous, a jerk, or a pompous jerk. What has made him so successful at it is that you can always see the wounded individual underneath. Instead of hating the character, in this case Bertram, we want him to change because we know he isn’t really this bad. Also, few in comedy do exasperation as well as Gervais, and this film is rife with moments that call for it (“How can teeth be self-righteous?!”). The supporting cast does an admirable job and there are some very clever gags (you may think twice the next time you sneeze), but Ghost Town ultimately hinges on Gervais and he doesn’t disappoint (full disclosure: I have an uncompromising man crush on Gervais and his comic sensibility).

The biggest drawback of the film is that it didn’t go as far with the premise as it could have. Instead of having more fun with the many ghosts Pincus encounters, Ghost Town focuses on the romance. Ultimately, this isn’t much of a drawback because the romance feels very natural and isn’t overly sentimental or cutesy. Ghost Town may be the cinematic equivalent of a stew, but damned if it isn’t pretty delicious. And the last bite the film offers is the most satisfying of them all.