If the film is little more than Gervais' attempt to break out of the "cult following" category and find some mainstream American success, more power to him. He deserves it, and Ghost Town is an auspicious start.
Ghost Town (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:171
Fresh:145
Rotten:26
Average Rating:6.9/10
Consensus: Ricky Gervais' consistently sharp performance and beautifully dry execution transform this otherwise mainstream comedy into an endearing, funny, and altogether snappy romantic comedy. With ghosts.
Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for some strong language, sexual humor and drug references.
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:24-10-2008
Synopsis: Director and screenwriter David Koepp (STIR OF ECHOES, SECRET WINDOW) brings Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, and Téa Leoni together for a romantic comedy with a twist of the supernatural. Dr. Bertram... Director and screenwriter David Koepp (STIR OF ECHOES, SECRET WINDOW) brings Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, and Téa Leoni together for a romantic comedy with a twist of the supernatural. Dr. Bertram Pincus (Gervais) doesn't like people very much. In fact, the antisocial dentist does everything he can to avoid interaction with other human beings. Unfortunately, he gets more than he bargained for when he is released from the hospital after undergoing a standard procedure: he can see dead people, and they can see him. Suddenly, every ghost in New York City wants Pincus to help clean up their unfinished business. Dapper Frank (Kinnear) is the most persistent ghost, badgering Pincus to help keep his widow, Gwen (Leoni), from making a big mistake. Gervais is perfect as Pincus, whose deadpan expressions make obvious his disdain for people. His comic timing is spot on throughout the film. Kinnear makes Frank likable, not an easy feat since he apparently wasn't such an upstanding guy when he was alive and married to Leoni's Gwen. Aasif Mandvi appears as a dentist sharing Gervais's office, and Billy Campbell is Gwen's new love interest. SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE star Kristen Wiig is a scene-stealer as Pincus's surgeon, particularly when she is trying to avoid telling her patient what went wrong during his procedure. Dana Ivey and Alan Ruck also appear as ghosts in need of help. [More]
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Téa Leoni, Greg Kinnear, Billy Campbell
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Téa Leoni, Greg Kinnear, Billy Campbell, Kristen Wiig, Dana Ivey, Aasif Mandvi
Director: David Koepp
Director: David Koepp
Screenwriter: David Koepp, John Kamps
Producer: Gavin Polone
Composer: Geoff Zanelli
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Reviews for Ghost Town
It's a consistently funny comedy that exactly captures Gervais' gift for playing self-centered jerks with a barely visible softer side.
Ostensibly a comedy, but one in which the (normally) brilliantly funny Ricky Gervais is more dull than he is droll, Ghost Town takes a familiar formula and goes nowhere with it.
Pretty much everything about this afterlife comedy is straight-from-the-shelf save for Gervais, typically hilarious as a misanthrope who organizes his work and his private life so he doesn't have to talk to anyone.
If there must be another go-around with the guilt-ridden dead trying to correct their errant ways, I'll take Jennifer Love Hewitt. It's shallow, but, then again, so is Ghost Town.
Who knew The Sixth Sense could have been such a disarming romantic comedy?
A hilarious comic fantasy about ghosts, misanthropy, and a spiritual take on sneezes.
A delightful antidote to the comedic excesses of the season, Ghost Town is smart, sexy fun that should leave no doubt (if there was any) that Ricky Gervais is among the funniest men in film.
You can only wander down this comic road for so long. Once you've run through a few sight gags, you have to go somewhere else with this old-fashioned, high-concept premise.
The last two lines of dialogue may be the best kicker I've heard in a movie this year.
By the time this imperfect little film wends its way to one of the most winning exit lines I’ve heard in a long time, it’s turned into something, well, perfectly lovely.
Gervais's steady stream of cutting bon mots and regular bouts of indignant stammering keep Ghost Town more dry and sharp than broad and squishy.
A comedy that's genuinely funny without being gross, and genuinely warm without becoming maudlin, a winning combination of sour and sweet that's both tasty and satisfying
A resolutely mainstream comedy that just barely gets by on Gervais' sarcastic humor and prickly charm.
Ghost Town is diverting enough, but it's also the kind of high-concept studio concoction Ricky Gervais might have ridiculed in his great backstage-showbiz sitcom Extras.
Ricky Gervais does what he can to make a shopworn premise likable, but blockbuster screenwriter David Koepp can’t do much to enliven this romantic-comedy-as-self-help-guide.
Ghost Town's unwillingness to escape from a safe orbit keeps the movie trapped in mediocrity.
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November 14, 2008:
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November 12, 2008:
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