Review: Ghost Town (2008) *** 1/2

Popular comedies are a tricky business. If they’re too quirky, they’re liable to limit themselves to a niche audience. Smooth off too many rough edges however, and they risk turning to cinematic sponge cake — formless, lifeless and lacking in character.

Occasionally a comedy will hit a sweet spot where it satisfies expectations yet remains edgy or different enough to leave the audience feeling it has been given something fresh. Based on the bland title, high-concept premise and slick marketing, the new film Ghost Town threatens to be of the sponge cake variety, but the cast including Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear and Téa Leoni give hope that it will be something a little more interesting. Happily, with the help of his capable cast, writer/director David Koepp manages to strike just the right balance and he delivers a winning romantic comedy with enough edge to be funny and enough heart to deliver a sensible and satisfying resolution.

Ricky Gervais plays Dr. Bertram Pincus, a classic misanthrope of the self-loathing variety who likes nothing better than to be left alone. When he dies for a few minutes during a routine anesthesia, he awakes to find that he can see dead people. Worse still, the dead people can see him and they think he can help them resolve their issues with the living so they can find peace in the afterlife. For the type of man who wouldn’t ask someone how they’re doing for fear they might answer, this proves a problem.

One of these ghosts is Frank Herlihy (Kinnear), the philandering former husband of Pincus’ downstairs neighbor Gwen (Leoni).  Frank believes his wife’s new fiancé is only interested in her for her considerable inheritance and it’s his mission to save her. He manages to convince Pincus to help him and of course the socially feeble dentist falls in love with her and a romantic comedy is born.

Ghost Town depends almost entirely on the terrific Gervais for its success. He needs to be cranky enough to be amusing yet sympathetic enough so that you not only root for him to win over Leoni, you also believe he might actually pull it off. Playing a slightly sadder variation on his characters from UK TV’s The Office and Extras, he nimbly walks a tightrope between likeable and loathsome. He’s not a handsome man, but he’s smart and funny and it’s not a stretch to believe a woman like Leoni could fall for him, if only he’d loosen up a little bit.

For her part, Leone’s ample gifts for comedy are mostly underused, but she does her best as the object of desire. She excels in scenes where she’s juggling reservations about her new fiancé, anger over her dead husband and confusion over the budding realization that her upstairs neighbor is more interesting than she first assumed. Most importantly, she’s believable as the kind of woman who could melt a misanthrope’s heart.

Kinnear is also good as the smooth-talking semi-sleazebag who loved his wife, but was selfish enough to cheat on her anyway. Though he realizes too late that he was kind of a creep in life, it doesn’t stop him from wanting to make up for it in death. Kinnear is best when there is a darker edge to his characters and here he delivers a good mix of nice and nasty. He’s the diametric opposite of Gervais, handsome and smooth yet ultimately the less likeable of the pair.

I thought I had Ghost Town pegged within the first 15 to 20 minutes, but it turns out I underestimated it. Though the overall arc is fairly predictable, the pleasure is in the beats in between. Gervais delivers most of the laughs (the movie really begins to hit its stride during his funny hospital check-in scene), but there are plenty of other clever touches. My favorite is early on where Gervais is dashing through Central Park trying to lose a mob of dead people who are following him. For a moment, the soundtrack is taken over by a street violinist playing Aram Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance, the familiar tune that has graced dozens of cartoon and cinematic chase scenes. It’s little touches like these that make Ghost Town stand out from the crowd.

Though it’s not a film that is going to change your idea of what a romantic comedy can be, it entertains within the limits of the form while pushing the boundaries just enough to feel a little bit fresh. Thanks to Gervais, it delivers a few laughs along the way and it’s couched in a surprising degree of warmth that feels earned rather than tacked on for audience satisfaction. Add it all up and Ghost Town is a surprising winner.

Ghost Town. USA 2008. Written and directed by David Koepp. Cinematography by Fred Murphy. Edited by Sam Seig. Music score composed by Geoff Zanelli. Starring Ricky Gervais, Téa Leoni, Greg Kinnear and Kristen Wigg. 1 hour 43 minutes. MPAA rated PG-13 for some strong language, sexual humor and drug references. 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Filed under: Reviews
Tags: David Koepp, Fred Murphy, Geoff Zanelli, Ghost Town, Greg Kinnear, Kristen Wigg, Ricky Gervais, Sam Seig, Tea Leoni