Ghost Town

A strong formula comedy that gets an extra jolt of originality from an improvisatory performance by Ricky Gervais.

Gervais plays a Manhattan dentist with an over-sensitive gag reflex who hates people. When he accidentally dies for seven minutes during a routine medical procedure, he finds upon waking that he can see and converse with dead people, who want his help in finishing up unresolved business. One of these, a smarmy, cheating husband (played by Greg Kinnear) wants him to help prevent his widow (Tea Leoni) from marrying a guy he doesn't like. Guess what...Gervais falls in love with her himself.

There's a lot of standard obligatory plot in "Ghost Town" that's specific to the genre: we have to sit through the requisite scenes of Gervais thinking he's going crazy because he can see dead people; he and Leoni have a falling out when she thinks he's tricking her just to get close to her, etc. But the acting is so good, especially from Gervais and Leoni, who absolutely lights up the screen whenever she's on it, that it's easy to forget we've seen much of this before.

One of my favorite parts of the film was the brief but hilarious performance of Kristen Wiig, who plays Gervais's doctor. You may remember her as Kathryn Heigle's passive-aggressive colleague in "Knocked Up," and though she always does the same schtick, she makes me laugh every time.

Grade: A-

David Koepp (director) did some good stuff here... it's a very good balance between a romantic movie and comedy movie... not too much weighted to either side. Who would have thought that one of the guys who wrote the story/plot for "Jurassic Park", would also be responsible for a movie like this?

The acting is pretty good and the 3 'heavies' in the cast (Ricky Gervais, Téa Leoni and Greg Kinnear) all deliver good performances for each of their characters.

Overall it's a good, light-hearted movie, that deals with the heavy subject matter (death) in a funny and non-serious way. It almost makes fun of death, as much of the comedy in the movie is derived from people who are dead, being stuck in the clothes that they had on when they died for eternity... so you died in your underpants? That's what you'll be wearing for eternity.

I have seen this movie twice, once in theatres and now on DVD. I'm happy to say that I still find it very enjoyable, a quirky blend of supernatural and humor that happily finds its groove. I realize that the idea of a person communicating with the dearly departed is hardly original in Hollywood--however, the majority of the time it works great and this is no exception. The setup here is an antisocial dentist who walk the thin line of keeping the obnoxious population off his back without thoroughly hurting them. It's difficult and he often fails. A near-death experience in an operating room leave him with veil opened and every annoying ghost in New York City seeking him for help. It's funny, it truly is, and finds plenty of fairly original details to keep it from being just another ghost story. The cast is marvelous, the characters clever, and the aura mozies along as if this is nothing but a romp rather than an innocent man being haunted. Delightful and definitely a DVD keeper.

I can't understand how I missed it. Written and directed by David Koepp, the man who wrote "Apartment Zero" and "Death Becomes Her" with Martin Donovan, a personal hero of mine. Not to mention some of the biggest moneymakers of the last two decades. "Ghost Town" strives for something else, it pinpoints the goodness hidden in the heart of someone who, perhaps, never knew was there. A comedy of personal discovery no less. I was moved and delighted. Ricky Gervais goes through it, stumbling over himself with an innocence that is as real as it is mysterious. I connected with him half way through and it took me by surprise. I was loving a character that at the beginning I thought was funny but despicable. That for me means I've learned something. Thank you.

A true delight. Ghost Town is David Koepp's most original script since Death Becomes Her and Death Becomes Her is one of my favorite comedies of all time. Daring, hilarious and elegant. Ghost Town is set in a more recognizable world, recognizable from many different angles, at times it feels we've seen all this before but what sets it apart is its heart. There is real heart here and a real intention. Ricky Gervais is fantastic as the "no people person" his unlikeable persona becomes the most likable aspect of the movie. I was taken by Gervais's predicament and I was never allowed to slip away. I was entertained and delighted throughout. 8/10