Ghost Town (2008)

Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais), a grumpy dentist, dies for about seven minutes while having an embarrassing operation. When he comes back to life, he can see the dead. This discovery is more annoying than terrifying to Pincus, who is not what you would call a ‘people person’. The first ghost he meets is the recently deceased Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear, Little Miss Sunshine), who asks for a favour. Would it be possible for Pincus to use his ‘charm’ and dental knowledge to break up his beautiful widow’s imminent marriage to a human rights lawyer?

Ricky Gervais takes his first role as a leading man on the big screen and he takes to it as if there is no difference between Slough and Manhattan, producing a sensitive, emotional, but hilarious performance, which, for a character who is so obviously a people-hating jerk, is a major achievement. Gervais trying to make himself look attractive is always an entertaining sight and the awkward dialogue between Pincus and Gwen (Leoni) is reminiscent of those cringe-worthy moments in The Office. Look out for him in The Invention of Lying, which comes out on October 2 later this year, which Gervais writes, directs and stars in alongside Jennifer Garner.

Although Ghost Town’s director is better known for his action films, such as Jurassic Park, Spiderman, Mission Impossible and Indiana Jones 4, David Koepp’s sense of humour allows him to adapt to the comedy genre, while keeping the tongue in cheek elements present in his action films. In an interview, Koepp stated that it was a deliberate choice not to go for an ‘effects’ movie, but to make the action driven by the characters rather than by CGI. The result is that some of the effects look a little weak, but the comedy created by the relationship between the living and the dead is heightened.

The key theme of the film is letting go of people who have died. As Herlihy puts it, “The dead have a lot of unfinished business, that’s why they’re still here.” As the film progresses it becomes clear that the ‘unfinished business’ is on the side of the living rather than on the side of the dead. The living must appreciate the people around them, letting the dead go, not dwelling on the past. Because, “everybody dies”. (Some before the end of their lives.)

Ghost Town nicely blends farce and self-awareness with witty and observational humour. Although it hints at becoming sentimental and sappy, it always does so knowingly and with originality and so comes off just the right side of cheesy.