serafinogm
I'll tell you what; Ricky Gervais is a major talent, acerbically witty, clearly immensely insightful and intelligent, an effortless actor as well as a brilliant writer/satirist, the man is simply a joy to behold. It appears the Brits own the franchise on intelligent male satire (Steve Coogan and Simon Pegg are in Ricky's company), however the U.S. did produce Albert Brooks. Ricky's supporting cast was superb, Tea Leoni (I swear she is aging like a fine wine), Greg Kinnear (have always enjoyed his low key urbane performances), and Kristen Wiig (a comedic genius), were wonderful and I can't imagine anyone better in each respective part. The story was delightful and heartfelt, a movie that can be enjoyed by everyone (all those cognizant and intelligent that is). I actively engage projects where Ricky employs his immense talent! The only reason I didn't give the film ten stars is the fact when you are hit by a bus at that speed there is no coming back, you would be toast or as Steve Coogan might put it "burnt bread", there is no coming back short of divine intervention! Ricky, or whomever is responsible, perhaps a glancing blow or a lower speed blow by the bus would have made it a bit more believable? By the way what was the issue with Dr. Pincus was he some sort of strange agoraphobe?
Raul Faust
Well, I took around a year to finally watch this film, since the synopsis never really engaged me; more precisely, last week I gave it a chance and saw it in a rainy afternoon. "Ghost Town" is a movie that takes long time to develop something; the first hour of length is simply full of uninteresting conversations that lead almost nowhere. Pincus, the main character, is a grumpy dentist whose life is almost a complete loss, until he, unintentionally, or maybe even against his will, acquires the ability of seeing dead people-- no, we're not talking about Shyamalan's classic. From that point on, Pincus gets in some unpleasant situations, mainly created by Frank, the deceased husband of a beautiful girl named Gwen. After falling in love with her, his life never feels the same; not that he stops being an unsympathetic person, but he finds something interesting to do about his life. There isn't much else that I can say about it, due that "Ghost Town" wasn't any remarkable to me. In my opinion, the story is just too weak to develop much feelings in the spectator, but it's at least fresh and has a beautiful ending. See it yourself (or don't).
Scott LeBrun
And the film itself is rather fresh and interesting, not quite the usual romantic comedy / drama; ordinarily this is not a genre that this viewer would seek out, but it's the central character and performance that make the difference, as we watch a bitter and grumpy person with a dislike of people in general regain his humanity. In that sense, the movie is predictable, but getting to the conclusion is still fun.This is an ideal vehicle for the great British comic Ricky Gervais, cast as dentist Bertram Pincus, a man who prefers to spend his free time alone. He goes into a hospital for a colonoscopy, and thanks to a screw-up with the anesthetic, he actually dies for seven minutes (although he won't be aware of this for a while). And when he comes back he's developed the ability to see dead people, who are ecstatic that he can see them and dog him at every turn, begging him to help them with their unfinished business. One such person is Frank (Greg Kinnear), who wants Bertram to rid his widow Gwen (Tea Leoni) of the new man in her life, Richard (Billy Campbell); Frank's convinced that Richard is a no-good type.Thankfully there are some nice developments along the way that the viewer may NOT anticipate; written by director David Koepp & John Kamps, it avoids some of the clichés to be found in this sort of thing. The movie does have a sweet, poignant quality to it without going overboard in the amount of syrup doled out. Manhattan looks especially gorgeous in this film thanks to the sharp cinematography by Fred Murphy. But the highlight is the very funny Gervais, who makes a believable transition throughout the film and has some great lines. Leoni herself is an effective love interest, and Kinnear does a fine job as the ghost who admits that he wasn't a prince of a guy while alive. Other solid contributions come from Kristen Wiig, Dana Ivey, Aasif Mandvi, and Alan Ruck.Even if you normally avoid this sort of film, you still may find "Ghost Town" to your liking. It's worth a look.Eight out of 10.
FilmBuff1994
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.
AD
