REVIEW: Ghost Town
February 2nd 2009 12:58
Ghost Town
All work and no play makes Jack- a vital member of society - Bertram Pincus
Release Date: 12 February 2009
Director: David Koepp
Cast: Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Téa Leoni, Aasif Mandvi.
Runtime: 102 min
In a Nutshell: Bertram Pincus (Gervais) is a dentist who can’t stand anyone. When he dies for several minutes on the operating table, he wakes up to discover he sees ghosts. Led by Frank (Kinnear), the ghosts try and get his help in making right what they left behind.
Before the release of Ghost Town Ricky Gervais was quoted in Entertainment Weekly with "just what America wants: a fat, British, middle-aged comedian trying to be a semi-romantic lead”. If it was anyone other then Gervais taking this lead everyone would probably agree. But Gervais has the ability to give his characters a special tweak which makes Ghost Town stand out from your usual rom-com crap. Even hit and miss Tea Leoni is surprisingly likeable (and stunning) when she’s on screen.
So what makes him different? Gervais’ dry and witty dialogue driven humor - recognisable in The Office and Extras - works best at an unhurried and unraveling pace. He’s successful with comedic timing and subtle humour that writer/director David Koepp is happy to let him explore. His presence in Night at the Museum was tragically ineffective without this. Even though he weaves in and out of scenes playing a pretty unlikable chap, we start to love him the more we see. If you didn’t know Bertrum you would think of him like everyone else - an absolute prick – but he’s just a man who’s just afraid of more pain and loss.
That’s not to say that Koepp (Stir of Echoes, Secret Window) throws some clichés our way, but there are just enough interesting plot twists to hold it a cut above. It’s also interesting to note that Koepp delved back into ghost territory after his mildly successful Stir of Echoes, also about a man who sees dead people. But where Koepp explored the gory and darker themes of death, here he plays on the irony of it all (with also a funny mention to The Sixth Sense) which is handled very well.
Overall the plot is familiar and the end is dealt with as expected. Koepp has redeemed himself a little after introducing aliens to an Indiana Jones movie (yes he wrote that one effectively raping the poor guy). He's got some nice comedic touches here, though it'd be interesting to see how much Gervais improvised his scenes as he usually does. By the end, the film sets out what it attempted to be – a sweet and funny film that won’t make you cringe or roll your eyes like so many other romantic comedies. A great start for Gervais to begin his deserved role as a strong and capable leading man with this funny and soulful performance.
Special mention also goes to Greg Kinnear who once again delivers and Kristen Wiig who plays Gervais’ doctor – GOLD!
Worth It?
Not ground breaking by any means, but proves Gervais can excel as a male lead.
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