Ghost Town is, unfortunately, a recipe for box-office disaster. First off, it’s a romantic comedy. The leading man is Ricky Gervais, star of the original Office and Extras. The plot is familiar and a little drab. If that weren’t enough, it seems like the ads tried to make the film look as unfunny as possible (unless it was an attempt not to spoil the best parts of the movie, in which case I say… bravo!).
Needless to say, Ghost Town is one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a long time. After weeks and weeks of action-fueled blockbusters, it’s refreshing to see a comedy that hits all the right notes.
Gervais plays-ha, that rhymes!-a cranky Manhattan dentist named Bertram Pincus. A routine surgery turns out to have a not-so-routine effect on Pincus; after somehow dying for several minutes, he can now see dead people himself. To make it even worse, they won’t leave him alone.
Greg Kinnear plays one such ghost, a manipulative, tuxedo-wearing jerk who won’t leave Bertram unless he stops Kinnear’s ex-wife (Leoni) from marrying someone else. In order to do so, Bertram attempts to woo her and soon discovers he still has a sense of humor as well as some charm.
As does Ghost Town. The warmth and humor of the film are enough to lift the story up from its own deathbed. Gervais’s ad-libs are dryly hysterical and Leoni delivers a winning performance. The movie also features SNL member Kristin Wiig, who steals the show as an oddly enthusiastic doctor, and Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi.
Sure, the film is a bit long even at 100 minutes and it does tend to meander at times, but if you’re looking for a good laugh, I recommend it full-heartedly.
Rating: 8.5/10
