Ghost Town follows Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais), the quintessential snide, cynical jerk who, after a glitch during a routine colonoscopy, dies for seven minutes. When he wakes up, he finds that he is being haunted by his biggest fear: people. Well, not people per se, but rather annoying, demanding and relentless ghosts. What could be worse for a self-proclaimed misanthrope?
Ghost Town falls into cinematic traps that are tragically seen far too often in Hollywood: the film feels completely unoriginal, overuses romantic comedy clichés and employs a cast of completely undeveloped characters. Sure, the film (somewhat lamely) attempts to put its own signature on the ghost genre. But while Ghost Town aims to be an Aesop-esque tale of one man's inner transformation through paranormal encounters, its high concept falls flat on screen.
Despite all of its narrative and thematic flaws, there are redeeming moments in the film. Ricky Gervais prefects the art of playing an awkward, caustic bastard who fails to notice that he is an awkward, caustic bastard; he should be wholly unlikable, but his innocent wit makes him impossibly endearing. His nonsensical rambles and foot-in-mouth moments are comedic gold, and Kristen Wiig, famous for playing compulsive one-upper Penelope on SNL, is hilarious as Pincus's spray tan-addicted surgeon.
Ghost Town is sure to attract a lot of box office attention - Gervais is an automatic draw - but if the weather's nice, save your money, go for a walk and wait for the DVD. The film will be haunting video stores soon enough.
