Ghost Town - Film Only (Ghost Town (DVD))

Member Name: DavidJay

Product:	Ghost Town (DVD)
Date:	07/01/09 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Often hilarious, touching, wonderful performances.

Disadvantages: The clash of comedy styles is a bit awkward at times.

Ghost Town, directed by David Koepp (the much-in-demand screenwriter responsible for Spider-Man, Panic Room and Mission: Impossible, amongst many others) marks the first feature starring role for British comedian Ricky Gevais following a series of bit-parts and extended cameos in the likes of Night At The Museum and Stardust.

Gervais plays Bertram Pincus, a curmudgeonly, misanthropic dentist who, following a series of "complications" during a routine colonoscopy, finds that he can not only see ghosts, but worse, the ghosts can see him, and, in the time-honoured tradition of such affairs, they're in dire need of some assistance.

Chief amongst them is Greg Kinnear's Frank Herlihy, a man who spent the last years of life cheating on his wife, and who needs Pincus to keep said wife from marrying a similarly unappealing sort. Initially hostile to the idea, Pincus eventually gives in, assisted in his decision making no end by the fact that he himself is also falling for the lady in question - Gwen, played by Tea Leoni.

The screenplay, written by Koepp and James Kamps, owes a lot to - or pays homage to, who can tell anymore? - The Sixth Sense, certainly, and, especially in the latter half, Ghost. For the most part, though, the film seems more influenced by television than cinema - Gervais' comedy of embarrassment, most obviously, but also the work of Larry David and Garry Shandling - both of them acknowledged heroes of the star. It's a style of comedy that, perhaps fittingly, sits rather uneasily at times with Koepp's polished directorial style. It's no accident that the likes of The Office, Extras and Curb Your Enthusiasm often employ documentary conventions - the "realer" the material seems, the funnier or more excruciating the jokes become. Bound to traditional Hollywood visuals and pacing, scenes that would, with a more "naturalistic" approach, be hilarious, often appear a wee bit flat, a touch contrived or forced.

That's not to say that Ghost Town isn't a joy when it does work - it is. For the most part, the jokes hit their mark, and the central sort-of-love-story is all the more touching for its refusal to bend or warp to the beats of more conventional romantic narratives. Where the faux-realism is concerned, the romantic material definitely benefits more than the comedy.

Overall, it's a wise first choice for Gervais, and for Koepp as director, it's certainly a step up from the fun but really not terribly great Secret Window. It COULD have been outstanding, but it could just as easily have been a lazy star vehicle. As it is, it's content to be Very Good Indeed, and you could do a lot worse than sit down with it for an hour and three-quarters.

Summary: For the most part, a Very Good sort-of-romantic-comedy.