Funny and Charming, despite a shaky start

Dr_Kruger

"Ghost Town" is the story of Bertram Pincus, a dental surgeon who, after undergoing a colonoscopy and dying on the table for 'a little under 7 minutes' can see dead people. After being bribed by Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), a dead guy who desperately wants his widow to break up with her new love, Bertram agrees to help and comedy/romance ensues.

It's a fairly cheesy premise, lightly mocking "Ghost (1990)" you feel, although Gervais and Kinnear add some comedic backbone to the film. Leoni is surprisingly good in the fairly difficult role of 'widow in a rom-com' whilst having to be convincing in being attracted to Ricky Gervais! As the film starts off you begin to wonder if this is going to be the most cringe making two hours of your life. Ricky Gervais has never been in anything where he hasn't had complete artistic control over the material and in 'Ghost Town' he had next to none. It shows in the first 15 minutes where you just don't get into his character and wonder how the balance of his unique comedic talent is going to fit into a fairly typical Hollywood "funny guy meets normal girl" rom-com.

However.......... as the movie progresses and his character is put in situations where Gervais is allowed to ad-lib a little and get some of those "I can't believe he said that" quotes out in true Gervais style to movie really grows on you. He really grows into the character and the middle third of the film becomes a real hoot.

Then.......... the final third of the film comes and doubts start to creep in again, as we enter "tragedy and love" mode and I start to wonder if Gervais can pull it off. He does!, and I'm quite astounded. He's maturing as an actor and while I'm not quite sure if he'll get many leading roles, bit parts and even second billings as a cheeky side kick roles are bound to come flooding in for him.

In the end it all becomes quite charming. I really believe the addition of Gervais's 'straight side' to his game could be the most important thing to come out of this film for him professionally, although if you still want a good laugh it's still well worth a look. Unlike a lot of films that fade, this one starts off on the wrong footing, but just gets better and better 8/10

score 8/10

Dr_Kruger 28 October 2008

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1966862/