Ghost Town: 2008

Group therapy from hell.

What do you get when you put a grumpy British bumpkin in the heart of New York City? Out comes “Ghost Town” starring Ricky Gervais, famous for mastering-minding the BBC series “The Office (UK)” and “Extras.” Here is his first Hollywood debut as the unlikely lead of a romantic comedy, and it was certainly a pleasure watching him on screen (or in my case, laptop).

Ricky Gervais is the forever and most endearingly misanthropic dentist, Bertram Pincus (If your dear mother named you Bertram to be paired with Pincus, I suppose that would punt you off to the wrong side of the bed from the very start). He avoids idealists like the plague, closes elevators on apartment neighbors, and stuffs his patients mouths’ with enough gauge to eliminate chitter-chatter but prevent asphyxiation amongst other antisocial behavior any psychology student would eagerly diagnose.

Pincus’s cinematic journey begins when he goes in for a colonoscopy. However, he later learns that he died for seven minutes, having unfortunately opted for unnecessary anesthesia that was administered by the most incompetent anesthesiologist in the hospital which, in the most unfortunate of events, all leads to his current state: Mr. Bertram Pincus, dentist, can now see ghosts.

As if the living weren’t bad enough, he now must deal with the dead – which, after a series of sleepless nights and cumbersome run-ins, turns out to be even worse. Then, through a stroke of luck, Bertram encounters Frank (Greg Kinnear), who informs the disgruntled doctor that all ghosts exist because of unfinished business, mostly regret. However, follows Frank, if Bertram will aid him in preventing his wife Gwen (Téa Leoni) from marrying her “bad egg” fiance Richard (Billy Campbell), he will help Bertram be rid of all other ghostly annoyances since, given their ephemeral nature, they can easily rouse him in the middle night with probing questions; if not, well, bye bye spirit security, and hello customer service hell.

What makes this movie click? Certainly not the story, which despite having an interesting premise, boils down to a another well-done derivative of the successful romantic comedy formula (though I have yet to see anything significantly or radically weave a story not using this formula and still be considered a “romantic comedy”). Instead, the movie employs two fine leads, Gervais and Leoni, to create a dynamic, unusual couple. No roses, no chocolates, no kissing – it’s all banter, and it’s damn good too.

The first half of the movie suffers slightly from a odd discord of two different comedy styles being mixed together – American and British. American comedy tends to be bombastic, creating a in-your-face gut reaction; British comedy tends to be subtle, creating a delayed response from the irony subsequently realized. In the case of “Ghost Town,” Gervais, British to the core, delivers snark and sarcasm tirelessly while his American co-actors react dubiously to what they seemingly are unfamiliar with. The exceptions to this are, of course, Téa Leoni and Kirten Wiig, who plays a convincingly self-absorbed surgeon responsible for overseeing Bertram’s colon cleaning.

I found Frank to be the weakest character in the whole movie. He is neither likable or empathetic, and his eventual self-reflection seemed unrealistic and forced. However, I commend screenwriters David Koepp and John Kamps for portraying one of my favorite romantic comedy couples to date: the pairing between Bertram and Gwen relies solely on verbal chemistry, nothing more. This is certainly a feat when so many romantic comedies rely on tired gimmicks like over-the-top/more-than-unlikely situations to land their lovely leads into each others lips.

“Ghost Town” is demonstration of dialogue and intrigue between two characters at its best. It’s fun and full of chuckles, and something of a gem for not adhering to typical romantic comedy techniques. So if you’re in the mood for something charming and quirky, you may be piqued to see this one.

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