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In Manhattan, while walking on the sidewalk talking to his wife Gwen (Téa Leoni) through the cellular, the wealthy Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear) is hit by a bus and dies. Meanwhile, the outcast, lonely and anti-social dentist Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) is submitted to a colonoscopy and has a heart stop for seven minutes but is resurrected. When he leaves the hospital, he finds that he can see dead people on the streets. The spirits chase him asking to help them in unresolved issues; however the unpleasant Bertram does not pay attention to their requests. Frank proposes a deal to Bertram: he would keep the ghosts away from him if Bertram separates his former wife from her fiancée that is interested in her money only. Bertram accepts the proposal, but falls in love for Gwen.

"Ghost Town" is a boring story absolutely miscast. The unknown Ricky Gervais performs not only a repugnant character, but is also ridiculous to compose a romantic pair with the gorgeous and sexy Téa Leoni, with his painted hair and eyebrows that give a gay look to him. Further, there is a total lack of chemistry between them, and Bertram is one of the most unpleasant characters I have ever seen in a romantic comedy. The conclusion is corny, silly and predictable. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Ghost Town – Um Espírito Atrás de Mim" ("Ghost Town – A Spirit Behing Me")

The main problem with this movie was that it's been done numerous times. There has been many movies about someone who can see the dead and then they try to help the deceased's loved ones. This movie uses a lot of dark, dry humor that is funny at times. Dr. Pincus is played by Brit, Ricky Gervais, and he is constantly a jerk. He always talks about how he hates people and makes rude comments. He dies during a surgery but is revived and can now see and talk to ghosts. Ghost Frank, gets Pincus's help to deal with his widow whom is going to marry someone else. Frank cheated on her and she hasn't forgiven him. Pincus goes out a few times with her and of course likes her even though he's such a jerk and she likes him for some unknown reason. Can Frank solve his problems so is spirit can leave the earth?

FINAL VERDICT: It was OK,but sort of boring since this is an old concept. I don't recommend it unless you just have several hours to waste and can catch this on cable.

This is a good date movie, and that's pretty much why it sucks too. The comedy is a consistent cute, sort of just enough to make you smile and get half a chuckle, but never really over the top hilarious. This is very obvious target marketing at work to give a couple something to watch so they can chit chat lightly after and then go have dinner. The entire movie is held up by the lead character.. it's basically him muttering over the heads of whoever is in the room in an amusing manner.

PLOT: ghosts are trapped on earth, wishing they could let their loved ones get on with their lives but it's unfinished business and they need some help. They get help from one of the living in an unusual and cutesy awww isn't that sweet manner. Our lead character is a dentist and his love interest has a connection to the ghosts as well. This is cotton candy for a first date or something, it's not a legitimate movie, it's a vehicle to sell a ticket and get someone to say.. yeh, it's OK, and the girl chimes in "I thought it was funny".. and off you go.. they could have done a lot better, but that's target marketing for ya.

Dentist Dr Pincus (Gervais) has a mild operation and dies on the table for 7-minutes, and comes back to life and now not only can he see dead people, but they know he can see them. And, because of that they all want something from him that they didn't finish when alive, especially Frank (Kinnear) who just died and made Gwen (Leoni) a widow.

Ever notice that many comedies seem to have all the good funny stuff in the beginning and then it all peters out as the story continues? This is what we have here, but the story is okay, just don't look for too many laughs around the middle and near the end.

There was good funny dialogue and not-so-good unfunny dialogue. Seems there was more of the unfunny dialogue and that is what hurt this almost comedic affair. Gervais had most of the funny lines, but he needed to have more or someone did. Didn't happen.

Dr. Pincus is considered a jerk by most around him and is not-at-all a people person. Of course this opens up much for comedic hilarity as far as I was concerned, but this didn't last long or it wasn't intense enough. When the recently widowed Gwen enters the scene he is still a jerk, but is becoming less so and hence the comedy goes south. It comes back when Pincus banters with Gwen and yes, he makes her laugh. So you see where this is going?

All the cast performed well. I am not that familiar with Mr. Gervais, but I do see he has the timing down pat. He just needed more lines. Despite this, the movie does save itself.

Violence: Yes, getting hit by a bus counts. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Sexual content: Yes. Language: Only one F-bomb and it was spoken loudly. Can't miss it.

The fact that Ricky Gervais plays the exact same character in virtually everything he appears in is an immediate turn-off. Despite this, Ghost Town is perfectly watchable and inoffensive and Gervais does ok in the lead role. It is a bit too lightweight and incoherent to really leave a mark but the story is creative and plays out quite amusingly. Forgettable but entertaining enough.

This film was a difficult watch. Ricky Gervais spends the bulk of this film playing an obnoxious dentist with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He does it so convincingly that you're actually rooting for him to lose. In that regard, this film was poorly spaced out with the first act dragging into both the 2nd and 3rd acts. Outside of Greg Kinnear and Kristen Wig giving their usual great performances, Ricky Gervais and Tea Leoni have little to no on screen chemistry together and are both poorly miscast. The last 15 to 20 minutes of tear jerking action was well done and bring the score up a little. Having had to trod through well over an hour of mostly unfunny dialogue though watching such a creepy narcissistic character, the crescendo wasn't worth the effort.

Why they cast an actor with teeth as UGLY as Ricky Gervais as a DENTIST!??!!

Bertram Pincus D.D.S. sees dead people in this comedy from writer and director David Koepp. "Ghost Town" is a perfect Hollywood churn-out as far as premises go, but the "X" factor in play is "Extras" and British "The Office" star Ricky Gervais in his first starring role.

Gervais' eccentric prick routine works well in the role of pathetic middle-aged rom-com leading man. You have to imagine that the studio couldn't afford Steve Carell's price tag and went for the more exotic pick in the British comedian. He certainly keeps things interesting in an otherwise predictable story.

Pincus is a self-centered dentist who discovers he can see and communicate with dead people after briefly dying and being resuscitated during a colonoscopy. He's immediately hounded by several ghosts looking for favors in regards to unsettled business, including Frank (Greg Kinnear), who learns where Pincus lives because it's in the same building as his widow, Gwen (Tea Leoni). Frank manages to strong-arm Pincus into keeping Gwen from remarrying a guy he doesn't like, and Pincus decides courting her is the way to do it.

It's a pretty shallow plan that makes both Pincus and Frank rather unlikable. Plus, in the scheming stage of the plot, you can already start to piece together the formula for how the whole thing will turn out. But the tone stays rather light through most of the movie, or at least never gives the impression that it takes itself too seriously.

Gervais keeps the whole thing fresh, tagging on little nuances to the ends of the written dialogue (or so it comes off) and bumbling about for our amusement. None of the other actors are essential to their roles, which isn't so much a fault of theirs as it is Koepp's. He and co-writer John Kamps seem a bit content with their distinct and silly premise to craft characters that aren't cookie-cutter.

The relationship between cookie-cutter Gwen and Pincus really drags the character down, though in fairness it's through his odd sense of humor that she starts to let him in. The closer they become, however, the more their relationship veers into eye-rolling rom-com territory. It even starts to get away from the seeing dead people concept that's really the entire hook of the movie. It's not nearly as clever as it should be.

Hollow and predictable though it might be, "Ghost Town" manages to avoid any really damaging mistakes as it cruises along thanks to Gervais' style. He's certainly capable of being funnier, but he helps turn something bargain-bin into something watchable.

~Steven C

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I like Ricky Gervais, but I have found him much funnier than in this movie, which is just a retread of various (better) movies. Perhaps if he were to write his own material. Tea Leone and Greg Kinnear had little to work with, which was a waste of both their talents.

There were not enough laughs, and some scenes were painful to watch - such as their discussion over the contents of the pot accompanying the mummy, and when Gervais' character was mocking Chinese names. (And it's not about political correctness, but rather simply not being funny). The one time I laughed out loud was when Gervais' character went looking for interrogation advice from his ethnic work associate.

This movie is okay, with some amusing moments and actors who are at least fun to watch. But there is nothing novel in the movie, and the ending is weak. I also miss not seeing what happened with the naked ghost.