Ghost Town a bitingly funny comedy
Fri 29 May 2009
Stacey Roberts, Journalism
British comedian Ricky Gervais serves up what he does best in his latest offering Ghost Town – a heaping plateful of angry little fat man.
As a long-time admirer of Gervais’s work, I was not disappointed with this semi-romantic, semi-supernatural and wholly funny flick where dead people roam the streets of New York, and Gervais as anti-social dentist Bertram Pincus hates them all as much as he does alive ones.
An accident during a routine colonoscopy sees Pincus die for seven minutes, rendering him the ability to see and speak to the dearly departed, all of whom want something from him. Grouchy, irritated and witty, Pincus ignores them like he does most other people, dishing up stinging rebukes and withering barbs to any and all that attempt to speak to him.
Greg Kinnear, fantastic as pushy womaniser Frank Herlihy, is determined to get the disdainful dentist to break up the impending marriage of his ex-wife Gwen (Tea Leoni) to her new fiancé, the seemingly perfect Richard (Bill Campell).
A complicated love triangle ensues, when the lonely Pincus falls for the vibrant Gwen, and many hilarious moments are spent with him attempting to woo her despite his corrosive personality and absent social skills.
All in all, Ghost Town is an excellent way to spend 102 minutes of your life, very much a must-see if you enjoy black comedy, Ricky Gervais or pasty, pudgy, irritable men saying things to people you always wanted to but never dared.
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Submitted Comments
Nice review, this movie I feel kind of flew under the radar, but it's nice to see another admirer of Gervais's work. Definitely an entertaining film.
Andrew Beam