"Ghost Town is one of the few movies one can enjoy like a meal."
by Jasmine Kabera
Ghost Town proved once and for all that Ricky Gervais (HBO’s Extras), playing a misanthropic dentist being stalked by a horde of ghosts, is a comedy gold mine.
The movie quickly starts out like most, with the introduction of all the main characters. Frank (Greg Kinnear), a soon to be ghost, is killed off in comedic fashion by a bus, after avoiding an air conditioner that would have killed him anyway. It was unsuspecting since the audience was fooled into believing he was going to get mauled by an air conditioner. With Frank dead and officially a ghost, Grevais’ character, Bertram Pincus, is introduced as the dentist with a general dislike for people in general.
Interestingly enough, Bertram goes in for a colonoscopy the next day. During the operation, the anesthetic he was given causes him to die for seven minutes. Soon after, Bertram starts seeing ghosts who are actually delighted to be seen, and they mob him. The fuss over Bertram catches the attention of Frank who mercilessly follows Bertram around and “claims” him before any other ghost can. Kinnear managed to hold his own against Gervais with a string of good comebacks and snide comments.
The fast talking Frank manages to convince Bertram that he could make all the other ghosts leave him alone if (there’s always a catch) he stopped his widow, Gwen (Téa Leoni), from marrying Richard (Billy Campbell), a lawyer who Frank dubs a “bad man”.
Richard turns out to be a complete saint (Frank failed to provide any proof Richard was actually harmful in any way), but unfortunately Bertram falls completely in love with Gwen. Watching Bertram struggling to ignore Frank’s commentary and not seem like a nut case in front of the woman he liked was worth it.
The movie had its share of laugh out loud moments that trumped the overall corny dialogue that would make even the most tender-hearted person roll her eyes. Gervais’ character is brilliant precisely for that sort of remorseless indifference towards the pleading of the lost souls, delivering every line with a straight face and stinging diction. Téa Leoni balances the movie by playing the innocent victim in the whole charade. The audience empathizes with her, and wants to see her truly happy in the end.
Ghost Town is one of the few movies one can enjoy like a meal. It has all the components of a good romantic comedy (if one ignores the copycat bus related deaths in the movie), not to mention it fits in nicely with Ricky Grevais’ history of brilliant comedies. When it’s done you can sit back and pat your stomach while letting out a satisfied sigh.
