"Ghost Town" - "Truly Madly" meets "The "Office"
By Joyce Glasser - 24/10/2008
Picture Truly Madly Deeply meets The Office and you have something of the flavour of director/co-writer David Koepp’s bitter-sweet and mostly hilarious romantic comedy.
Starring Ricky Gervais as the curmudgeon, Dr. Bertram Pincus, Ghost Town is the story of an embittered dentist who, when forced to interact with human beings, does so as offensively as possible. Pincus denies not liking crowds; ‘it’s just the individuals in the crowds’ he objects to. In hospital for a colonoscopy, Pincus insists on being put under general anaesthetic and dies for seven minutes before being saved by his surgeon --- Kristen Wiig, much funnier here than in ‘Knocked Up’.
This short death confers on Pincus a new status he can do without. Not only is he subjected to the humans he already despises, but in addition, to packs of aggressive city ghosts all competing for Pincus’s favours as their sole bridge to the living. Bemused by his new condition, Pincus grills his doctors on what went wrong during the operation. A patronizing manager attempts to shrug it off with the observation that ‘Everyone dies.’ ‘I know’ Pincus retorts, ‘but usually at the end of their lives and only once.’
Former neighbour and two-timing husband Frank (Greg Kinnear) offers to rid Pincus of the annoying spirits if Pincus prevents Frank’s widow, Gwen, (Téa Leoni) from tying the knot with handsome human rights lawyer Richard (Bill Campbell). Pincus, who has snatched one too many of Gwen’s taxis from their mutual doorstep, now faces the daunting task of charming her away from the catch of the century.
Beautifully directed by Koepp, who is better known as the writer of action thrillers such as Jurassic Park, Carlito’s Way, and the Panic Room, and co-written with John Kamps (The Borrowers), Ghost Town also features thoughtful casting and, from New York City cinematographer Fred Murphy, some of the best shots of the city in years.
In common with Antony Minghella's Truly Madly Deeply, Frank’s deal with Pincus isn’t a bitter victim’s act of revenge, but a deferred act of love. Koepp’s phantasms are only hanging around the city until their loved ones have closure. Frank can’t leave until Gwen finds someone she loves more, and somehow he knows that person isn’t Richard.
Much to Frank’s surprise, Pincus’s sense of humour wins his widow over, and if it doesn’t win you over, too, then you’re not among the living. But there’s another side to Gervais that neither Gwen nor most television audiences have seen before: his uncanny ability to play the romantic leading man. When Gwen shows up with a tooth problem, Pincus standard reassurance, ‘I can fix that for you’ takes on a whole new meaning. He’s no longer the callous dentist, but the lover, suddenly feeling someone else’s pain.