![]() I’m not sure that the reason for his restless phantom is properly worked out beyond conventional romantic comedy logic, either.īut that’s not enough to kill the lively spirit of “Ghost Town. Kinnear is a bit too glib, but that’s the way Frank is written. Leoni is in her best, expert farceuse mode, and just wounded enough when Gwen needs to be. If the cranky loner will ever do anything for anybody. Gwen, for example, is a mummy expert, which enables Bert to bond with her over the two subjects he’s familiar with: dead people and oral hygiene.Īnd as it turns out, the insistent ghosts, played by the likes of Dana Ivey and Alan Ruck, all want Pincus to do something that just may improve his personality. Koepp, who usually writes scripts for lumbering blockbusters such as “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” populates “Ghost Town” with some remarkably deft touches. This couldn’t have happened to a more deserving guy, but somehow the actor makes you believe that it shouldn’t happen to anybody. Bert is intentionally offensive for the longest time, but his putdowns are so witty and his outlook so consistent that you can’t hate him.Īnd Gervais gets the empathy going fast once the character’s sixth sense kicks in. Gervais performs one of his likably nasty miracles here. ![]() ![]() Since she’s played by Tea Leoni, Bert himself falls in love with her.īut since he’s a complete misanthrope, neither his heart’s nor Frank’s mission is going to be easy. Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear) will get all of the other spirits off his back – and out of his bedroom – if Bert will dissuade Frank’s widow, Gwen, from remarrying. One fast-talking recently departed offers to cut him a deal. He wakes up with the ability to see and hear ghosts, and they’re even more irritating than living folks. Striking just the right balance between sarcastic and sweet, “Ghost Town” breathes new life into supernatural comedy.Ī decent script from director David Koepp and John Kamps is enhanced by expert ad-libbing from Ricky Gervais, the star-creator of TV’s original “Office” and “Extras.” Gervais plays Bertram Pincus, an English dentist on New York’s Upper East Side who can’t stand people, really, and has arranged his life to limit contact with them as much as possible.īut when a simple colonoscopy goes anesthetically awry (the hospital has a “very strict three strikes policy,” his woozy surgeon, played by Kristen Wiig, later explains), Pincus clinically dies for a few minutes. (CNN) - Ricky Gervais says he's not sure if the lead in 'Ghost Town' - an anti-social, cynical dentist named Bertram Pincus - was written for him. ![]() For no other reason than cheap jokes.‘Ghost Town’ revives the supernatural comedy – Orange County Register Then stuff happens and he learns a life lesson. Pincus becomes a lovable character and of course falls for Gwen. Plot holes large enough to drive an IMAX screen through abound such as how easily Frank gets all the other New York ghosts to leave the Pincus alone if he does him the favor. You soon get tired of the Gervais talking to Kinnear but everybody thinks he is talking to no one gag especially since with Bluetooth anybody talking to himself is normal. Frank wants Pincus to seduce his wife/widow Gwen (Tea Leoni) before she marries a lawyer he does not like. One of the ghosts is Frank (Kinnear), a philandering. Gervais plays Bertram Pincus an antisocial New York dentist who wakes up after a colonoscopy and realizes he sees ghosts and can communicate with them. Once you get past the set-up this Ricky Gervais comedy runs out of steam pretty quickly. This comedy DVD isn’t even a decent second rental on what else is on night. All Ghost Town is is a by-the-numbers mix of romantic comedy and ghost jokes. ![]() You would think a movie that teams Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear would have more spirit than this stiff. ![]()
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