Ghost Town

Plot synopsis:
The film begins as married New York City businessman Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear) is accidentally killed while trying to buy an apartment for his mistress. Shortly afterward, cynical dentist Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) has a near-death experience while under general anesthetic during a colonoscopy. When he recovers, he is able to see and communicate with ghosts who populate the area. The ghosts annoy Bertram by asking him to help them with personal business that was left unfinished when they died. Frank promises to keep the other ghosts away if Bertram will break up an engagement between Frank's widow Gwen (Leoni), a professional Egyptologist, and Richard (Billy Campbell), a human-rights lawyer who Frank says is dishonest. Bertram eventually agrees to the deal and tries to woo Gwen away from Richard. Bertram's past rudeness to Gwen makes this difficult, but he attracts her interest by analyzing the teeth of a mummified Egyptian Pharaoh that she has been studying.
When Bertram has dinner with Gwen and Richard, he decides that Richard is not as bad as Frank claimed, but Bertram himself begins to fall in love with Gwen, and she enjoys Bertram's sense of humor. At another dinner, Gwen reveals that she learned of Frank's mistress the day he died, and when Richard visits Bertram for some dental work, Bertram drugs him with laughing gas in order to make him reveal that Gwen has broken their engagement. Frank doesn't understand why he is still on Earth if his "unfinished business" was to break up Richard and Gwen.
Gwen, not being engaged to Richard any longer, says yes to a work proposal that would send her to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt for six months. As a going-away present, Bertram gets her a new key chain from a fancy jeweler's, as she had earlier mentioned that she desperately needed one. But when he mistakenly reveals information about Gwen that only Frank could have known, she demands the truth, and Bertram tells her the whole story about the ghosts. Gwen doesn't believe him and demands to know what Frank's worst nightmare was. Frank lies to Bertram, telling him a fake nightmare, and Gwen, thinking that Bertram has been lying to her and playing some kind of game, walks away and cuts him off. Bertram demands to know why Frank lied to him about the nightmare, and Frank points out that Bertram only cares about his own needs.
Bertram sinks into a depression and asks a fellow dentist (Aasif Mandvi), for medication that will help him forget Gwen. His colleague instead convinces him that his life would be better if he decided to stop being selfish and start helping people. Bertram begins helping the ghosts around him with their "unfinished business" on Earth, bringing comfort to people they left behind and enabling the ghosts to depart. As he does this he realizes that the ghosts were still on Earth not because they had unfinished business, but because the people they were close to were not finished with them. He begins to appreciate life and the people he encounters.
Bertram realizes that the reason Frank cannot leave is that Gwen has not let go of him yet. He confronts Gwen who asks him to ask Frank why she wasn't enough for him, and Frank says he's sorry for hurting her, which Bertram tells Gwen. Gwen is incredulous that after his infidelity, all Frank would have to say was 'sorry' and thinks that Bertram is making it all up. He rushes after her and while trying to persuade her to believe him, gets hit by a bus. Bertram, now a ghost himself, watches with Frank as people crowd around his body and Gwen sobs over him. Richard arrives on his way to the reception and tries to revive Bertram with prayer and CPR. Seeing how distraught Gwen is, Frank gives Bertram 'some advice' that will be useful in case he is resuscitated, and tells him that Gwen's tears are for Bertram, in other words she loves him. After saying this, Frank is finally allowed to leave the earthly plane.
Bertram wakes up alive in the hospital. Later Gwen, who needs dental work, comes in for an appointment with another dentist but finds Bertram's office to say hello. Bertram tells Gwen of Frank's real nightmare—that of losing his way home, which was the advice Frank told him, and then assures her that Frank has 'found his way home.' The movie ends with Gwen saying, "It hurts when I smile", to which Bertram replies "I can fix that for you".

Tags: entertaining

Review:
Yet here he is, delivering an hilarious and heartfelt performance in what one would usually consider the most clichéd of genres: the romantic comedy.In Ghost Town, Gervais plays Bertram Pincus, a socially awkward prick of a dentist who dies for seven minutes while going in for a routine colonoscopy.
What really made this rather familiar story work for me was British comedian Ricky Gervais in the part of a grouchy NY dentist who starts seeing ghosts after he has a peculiar mishap during a routine colonoscopy.
However, do expect a clever and charming romantic comedy.Basically, the movie is about a dentist (Gervais) who temporarily dies during a routine medical procedure.
However, together with Gervais and Kinnear, everyone more or less of shines.While the story is a bit predictable, the interesting characters, charming nature of the tale and all-around quality of movie-making make this film worth a watch..
These aren't just any ordinary ghosts, but ghosts who continue to haunt their previous Manhatten neighborhoods, where they died, until something happens in the real world that will allow them to move on.One such ghost is Frank (Greg Kinnear), a philandering Manhatten playboy type, who is pestering Bert to intervene on his behalf to get his widow, Gwen (Tea Leoni) to break up with her fiancé, because Frank "thinks he's just after her for her money".Bert agrees, but then falls for Gwen himself, and gradually is transformed from a curmudgeon into a much better person (shades of Ebeneezer Scrooge!).This may sound like a tired plot that's been overdone many times before, but somehow it works very nicely here.
Kristen Wiig (from SNL) turned in a hilarious role as the surgeon who botched the colonoscopy.What I liked most about this was that it worked on a number of levels, as a very good comedy, a ghost story, a romance, and a story of redemption.Go check it out at the theater.
I think this is a romantic comedy that will appeal to a really large number of people because it is a feel good film, has some really good comic moments and because of the good performances, especially by Ricky Gervais who plays Bertram.
I think a lot of people will like the romantic part of the film and I think a lot of people will also enjoy Ricky Gervais as Bertram and just how un likable he is and how funny he is to watch.
This is one of the best feel good comedies of the year, that like I said, will appeal to many different people and I think once it is rediscovered on DVD that it will become a sleeper hit because of how good it is and I can really seeing this being a crowd favourite and for obvious reasons because of the great performances and the feel good yet funny script.
Guess what...Gervais falls in love with her himself.There's a lot of standard obligatory plot in "Ghost Town" that's specific to the genre: we have to sit through the requisite scenes of Gervais thinking he's going crazy because he can see dead people; he and Leoni have a falling out when she thinks he's tricking her just to get close to her, etc.
But the acting is so good, especially from Gervais and Leoni, who absolutely lights up the screen whenever she's on it, that it's easy to forget we've seen much of this before.One of my favorite parts of the film was the brief but hilarious performance of Kristen Wiig, who plays Gervais's doctor.
While Ghost Town doesn't necessarily do anything remotely different from the aforementioned feature –at least concerning the script's comedy department- it is in the movie's emotional core and characters present that such clashing of half-baked spiritual plotting with slapstick comedy gets softened into something a lot more digestible.
The result is a story that fails to register on an engaging level based upon its basic premise alone, but eventually more than makes up for it with a sweet romance that tickles just as much as it warms the heart.Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) is a sad, lonely man, and although he would argue otherwise, has nobody to blame but himself.
Yes, it's possibly the weakest element of the feature, but that's not really saying much at all.By the far the greatest thing about Ghost Town however lies in its comedy, which is fronted by lead man Ricky Gervais, who teams up alongside Greg Kinnear to create a movie with both class and wit, not to mention a little bit of welcome shtick.
In this way Ghost Town achieves a sense of relevancy that most movies of the subgenre fail to reach, managing to speak to us through comedy and romance that comes together to create a feature that is simply good fun to watch.
With an unforgettable performance by Gervais, and enough heat between characters to justify much of the film's otherwise ridiculous elements, Ghost Town is a surprise hit; charming, delightful and full of life.A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net).
To make things worse he is a loner / recluse who is sarcastic, offensive and completely devoid of any social skills.Similar to Jack Nicholson's character from As Good As It Gets, however being a professional comedian gives Ricky an edge when delivering all those funny lines in the movie.Funny, witty and touching in places and generally enjoyable.
The film ends pretty badly, and not in a cliffhanger sort of way!This films main problem is Ricky gervais, his acting is not brilliant, admittedly some of the jokes in the film are funny, some of the items discuss are relevant to modern living, but his main fault is the style of humour he uses, which is still 'the office' based, works well for half an hour, doesn't work for a film lasting nearly two hours.This is a film I won't be renting or buying on DVD..
Greg Kinnear is the dead guy who manages to monopolise Gervaise's services and it is in the relationship between these two - and Kinnear's wife (Tea Leoni) - that the film finds it's heart.The story is obviously pretty daft, but it is the comedy - and Gervaise's delivery of it - that makes this film better than it might otherwise have been.
And, because of that they all want something from him that they didn't finish when alive, especially Frank (Kinnear) who just died and made Gwen (Leoni) a widow.Ever notice that many comedies seem to have all the good funny stuff in the beginning and then it all peters out as the story continues?
For me though, once the movie gets into the second half with Bertram helping out Kinnear's character, who is a ghost after dying early in the movie, the movie starts to feel like every other romantic comedy with cliché misunderstandings and the "I saw that coming from a mile away" ending that mostly blows it for me.
As Bertram Pincus (great name, by the way), the lonely dentist who loathes human contact (and human beings in general), Gervais' style of deadpan humour shines in almost every scene.He is backed by a superb cast, including Greg Kinnear as the ghostly husband of widow Tea Leoni (an actress I've never particularly warmed to but who actually surprised me in this movie), whose performance never overshadows Gervais' but provides great support especially in the scenes where the two are alone together.Whilst it may not feature many laugh-out-loud moments, "Ghost Town" has the ability to bring a genuine smile to your face and has something which many other comedies lack - a heart.
Sure, it could easily be described as 'Scrooge In Manhattan' and it features many things you will have seen before (such as onlookers staring in horror at Gervais who appears to be talking to himself when he's conversing with the ghosts), but "Ghost Town" has many of its own unique charms.Directed by David Koepp, the movie is a genuinely moving experience featuring a believable transformation in its main character who comes to realise that his self-imposed isolation and selfish ways are only hurting himself.I found myself thinking about "Ghost Town" long after the credits had rolled, and have since recommended it to friends.
"Ghost Town" is the story of Bertram Pincus, a dental surgeon who, after undergoing a colonoscopy and dying on the table for 'a little under 7 minutes' can see dead people.
After being bribed by Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), a dead guy who desperately wants his widow to break up with her new love, Bertram agrees to help and comedy/romance ensues.It's a fairly cheesy premise, lightly mocking "Ghost (1990)" you feel, although Gervais and Kinnear add some comedic backbone to the film.
In Ghost Town, Gervais plays Doctor Bertram Pincus, a misanthropic dentist who likes nothing better than to cram something into a patient's mouth to prevent them from talking.
About half an hour in, it really hits its stride and for around twenty minutes is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny (Bertam's encounter with Gwen's huge dog is a highlight  hardly surprising that they've used it in the trailers) but after this, the film slips back to raising wry smiles rather than belly laughs and Bertram's inevitable final transformation to caring human being is a tad hard to swallow.Given all these problems, it's surprising that Ghost Town is as likable as it is, but it's proof if nothing else, that the old adage about square pegs and round holes, holds true for movies.
How this film got 7.8,even at the early stages of voting is beyond me.The acting is disastrous and the director seemed to think that Gervais could just do the same thing he does in the office with quick mumbled lines.don't get me wrong,i love the UK version of the office, and the US version isn't bad either (albeit overacted) but when you put them together as what seemed to happen in this film it just doesn't work (i refer to the scene where the female doctor is interrupting Gervais.torturous!) The special effects,where people walk thru ghosts was better done in the 1990 movie "ghost".
Specifically, newly dead man Frank Herlihy (the always good Greg Kinnear), who cheated on his wife before dying.While not a wholly original premise (what is these days?), it's a film that succeeds admirably in the fields of comedy and drama.
The last 20 minutes or so of the film are sweet, while not completely losing Gervais' sense of down-to earth humor.Funny, sweet, and not just another formula comedy, Ghost Town gets a B+.
My kids (11,13,15) all love the TV series, The Office, and when they heard that Ricky was the original Michael character, they were eager to see Ghost Town.The set up was the only slow part of this movie, but it was still very funny, and once the story began, it was all laughs.
A spirited romantic comedy, Ghost Town is a story of Bertram Pincus (Richard Gervais), a cranky Manhattan dentist who develops the unwelcome ability to see dead people.
But when a smooth-talking ghost (Greg Kinnear) tramps Bertram into a romantic scheme involving his widow Gwen (Tea Leoni), they become entangled in a hilarious predicament between the now and the hereafter!A little boring at first, but gets better as the movie goes on.
The supporting cast are generally good but this is really Gervais's movie and he performs admirably with some challenging material.As a story, Ghost Town is nothing new.
Communication between the two worlds is a plot device, one that at times becomes a little tiresome, yet it sets the main stage for Gervais personal drama and its eventual resolution."Ghost Town" tells us that there is more to life than just breathing and following the expected conventions.
In a world of sequels, outrageous vulgar comedies, and adaptations, the original idea of Ghost Town is a breath of fresh air as a comedy geared towards adults - but not a sex/curse fest that would make parents cringe.Gervais plays his role with remarkable skill, not only in his incredible comedic timing, but also in his surprising dramatic chops, which are needed to keep this movie from turning absurd.
Alan Ruck (OMG IT'S CAMERON) appears as a ghost as well, and there's a nice little "aww" moment involving his character.I really appreciated Ghost Town for taking an idea, that at the time it was first put on the big screen was geared for horror films and thrillers, and turning it into the light hearted romantic comedy that it is.
This is really a pretty strong movie that writes a new yarn around an age-old movie subject - ghosts.Greg Kinnear, Ricky Gervais are great as a smooth operator and a lonely curmudgeon who communicate across the line between life and death.Tea Leoni plays the attractive, intelligent prize for the right man of character.There are some solid supporting characters as well.
The plot probably wasn't the most original, as a lot reminded me of 'Ghost', but it was entertaining enough.Towards the end it is explained why the dead still roam, and when the dentist finally find it in his selfish being to help these people, they can move to the next realm, but I must be honest the reason why Kinnear's character was still here was not entirely clear.
Gervais fans will enjoy an easy watching, feel good film, with the trademark Comedy Writer's awkward demeanour and funny lines.
Now he is able to see and speak with the dead people that linger in the city.Story-wise "Ghost Town" was mediocre, but it was the lack of comedy and a rushed storyline that made it a less than average end result, it should be said that Ricky Gervais did portray his character quite well, and Greg Kinnear and Tea Leoni did supplement well, but it just wasn't enough to salvage the movie.Don't go into this movie with an expectation of great laughs and comedy, as I did, because you will end up sorely disappointed..
Ghost Town is a good movie with an alright storyline and a great comedic cast.The movie is nowhere near to a perfect comedy,there are plenty of hit and miss,but Ricky Gervais's humour and personality makes it very enjoyable and I also really liked Greg Kinnear's character.Its nowhere near to anything like The Office or Extras,but the parts in this movie that do work out do it very well and the move is a short movie that you can get a good chuckle out of.Its not Gervias's finest work,but Ghost Town is a sweet and funny movie.Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais),a grumpy dentist,suffers a near death experience and consequently discovers he can speak to the dead..
Just a very predictable movie, it was funny at some times and the chemistry between Ricky Gervais and Téa Leoni was good, I will even add that Ricky Gervais acting like a prick in this film was amusing to watch.
There are also some good morals, involving Gervais deciding to live his life better and help the ghosts around him with their "unfinished business." However, I must admit that several scenes at the beginning of the film ruined the whole movie for me.
I would not say Ghost Town is a bad film...I only found it to be mediocre.However,I think I found this movie to be a little bit better than what it really is because of the presence from the excellent British comedian Ricky Gervais,who makes his debut as a leading actor in a North American film.The screenplay has various weak elements and the humor is very below the level we are accustomed to see from Gervais.But,his natural charisma and talent make his character to be more interesting,and I am filled with enthusiasm about the idea that this movie could be the starting point of a more notorious and successful facet on Gervais' career.However,being realistic,I doubt it will be like that.I do not want to start with a pretentious comparison between British and North American humor to explain why I doubt that Gervais will find something more than a small cult of aficionados outside his native England.But it is easy to suppose that Hollywood will try to dilute and adapt Gervais' style,like it has done with other very talented people (like Colin Firth or Hugh Grant) who do not naturally fit with the rigid parameters of a "stars' factory".As I said,Gervais is competent on his role from Ghost Town,although he is not at the same level of other performances from him.Greg Kinnear is rather anonymous on his role,at the same time Téa Leoni does not seem to be very interested on her role either.With the exception of Gervais,my favourite performances come from Kristen Wiig and Aasif Mandvi.Combining ghosts with romance is a moderately popular formula,and Ghost Town is a rehash of the same themes and resolutions we have seen on movies like Just Like Heaven or Topper.I can give this film a slight recommendation because I cannot deny it kept me moderately entertained,but the overall experience is mediocre..
Here's my review."Ghost Town" as based around Bertram Pincus (Gervais) a dentist who briefly dies during a standard procedure and consequently can now see dead people, whom are strangely just wandering around with the living.
Ultimately, of course, Pincus falls for Gwen, and the story follows his attempts to overcome his anti-social nature and win her heart for himself.The movie is a little bit reminiscent of "Ghost," in the sense that it deals with the issue of the unfinished business of life, except that "Ghost," while it had some funny moments, was a very dark story while "Ghost Town" (although somewhat sad at times) is primarily a romantic comedy.
I admit i was a little worried that the Gervais comedy style might not transfer to the big screen as well as i would have hope , but i needn't have worried because not only is he his usual funny self , Ghost Town is one of the funniest films i have seen in a long while.