ShareThisBritish television writer-director-producer-comedian-actor Ricky Gervais is such a favorite around the office -- for creating "The Office" and "Extras" and for his hilarious appearances on talk shows -- and he's become such a darling of the media over the past few years that it didn't occur to me that there still were Americans who didn't know who he is.Amazingly, as I just found out, there are. But there won't be after "Ghost Town."The fact that Gervais is the lead in the romantic comedy -- over such pretty-boy co-stars as Greg Kinnear and Billy Campbell -- gives a clear indication of what kind of movie "Ghost Town" is. It zigs when zags might be expected. It scoffs at grand romantic gestures.And it sees dead people.Gervais plays Bertram Pincus, a misanthropic dentist who loves being able to silence his patients by stuffing their mouths with cotton balls (and other dental horrors). He avoids socializing with co-workers. He's rude to neighbors and doormen.He doesn't like people, and the feeling is mutual.After a routine colonoscopy that leaves him dead for seven minutes, Bertram is dismayed to learn that he can see and hear ghosts roaming around New York (portrayed with fantasylike beauty and cleanliness). He flees from the hordes, who want him to help them complete unfinished business.Frank (Kinnear) is one of the more persistent dead guys. He was a jerk and adulterer while alive, but now he wants Bertram to keep his wife, Gwen (Tea Leoni), from marrying a scumbag lawyer, Richard (Campbell).The best thing about "Ghost Town" is the host of details Gervais puts out to prove that Bertram is not a people person. At first, there's a possibility that his awkwardness masks something endearing, but that isn't the case. Gervais is perfect as the caustic, selfish loner.Leoni is a great match. She makes Gwen's sense of humor work with her professional credentials and dignity. Kinnear has Frank's smugness down to a science, while Campbell does a good job with a tricky role.Kristen Wiig expands her "Saturday Night Live" shtick as a surgeon more interested in her spray tan than her patient. Aasif Mandvi of "The Daily Show" is likable as Bertram's colleague. Alan Ruck and Dana Ivey make great ghosts.Director David Koepp, who wrote the script with John Kamps, isn't known for comedy (he wrote "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Spider-Man," and his directing credits include "Secret Window"), but his comic pacing is excellent. Even when the humor gives way to the inevitable, Koepp holds back on the sentimental stuff and gives "Ghost Town" an offbeat spirit.Rated PG-13 for some strong language, sexual humor and drug references.Four stars (out of five)(Contact Knoxville News Sentinel film critic Betsy Pickle at pickle(at)knews.com.)
An offbeat spirit inhabits 'Ghost Town'
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