Ghost Town

Ghost Town

This film came as something of a surprise to me. I've always enjoyed the sarcastic, dry humor of Ricky Gervais (who starred in the original British version of The Office), and I've been watching Greg Kinnear's career ever since he was the original host of Talk Soup and Later. Kinnear's snarky style of humor meshes well with Gervais' uptightness, in this pleasant romantic comedy. Gervais plays Bertram Pincus, a British dentist practicing in Manhattan. All Dr. Pincus wants is to be left alone outside of work. When Pincus suffers a brief death during a medical procedure, he suddenly develops the ability to see ghosts. When the ghosts realize he can see and hear them, they begin pestering him for assistance with tasks that they hope will allow themselves to finally "cross over". Kinnear's Frank Herlihy becomes the spokesghost, convincing Pincus to try to help him break up Herlihy's widow's new relationship. The chemistry between Gervais, Kinnear and Tea Leoni is marvelous, and the plot of this film is simply charming. I was expecting something a bit crude, and although there is some "R"-rated language, for the most part this film is a very simple romantic comedy at heart. Gervais does a marvelous job here as a curmudgeon who has to open himself the rest of the world. Kinnear is similarly transformative as a jerk who gets a good look at what the repercussions are for his behavior. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

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