Ghost Town

Director and screenwriter David Koepp brings Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, and Téa Leoni together for a romantic comedy with a twist of the supernatural. This could have been just another mainstream comedy but with such a superb cast and perfectly delivered lines from Gervais it’s a firecracker. 

Ever since he hit our screens as David Brent I have loved Ricky Gervais for his consistently sharp performances in the Office and Extras. Now I've seen what else he can do I'm hooked.  In the first few frames I can't quite work out how much is script and how much is improvisation as I'm so used to seeing him in a permanent state of improv.  It's not long before I realise that it's just first class, beautiful and dry execution of the script.  

"Come back soon" says the lady in the hospital...."that's not very nice" says Dr. Bertram Pincus (Gervais) "It's a hospital".  As a dry humoured dentist who doesn't like people and doesn't want to see the beauty in life, Pincus bumbles along hurting people’s feelings and being ignorant to anything outside of his cocooned safe existence.  That is until he meets Qwen (Téa Leoni) a widow living in the same building as him. 
 
There are times when I'm literally crippled with laughter, watching Gervais execute the role of Pincus.  The scene where he and Gwen are with the dog almost made me look away from the screen because the laughter stitches were imploding. There are also heart felt moments when he talks to a ghost (Gwen's late husband played by Kinnear) and the two discuss being hurt and he says "I sometimes want to go back to a time before I knew her (Gwen)". I won't spoil the ending but I was left wondering if they actually did film a kissing scene but decided to leave it out....I have to say I'm kind of glad they did...there are only a few things that I wouldn’t want to watch but that is certainly one of them. What a wonderful romantic comedy...rent it out as soon as possible...and if you’re scared of ghosts keep the light on!

Director: David Koepp
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, Kristen Wiig, Tea Leoni, Bill Campbell
Certificate: 15
Runtime: 98 minutes (approx.)
Release date: 2 March 2009
RRP: £19.99

Melissa Davis, Law Society