Ghost Town

Mining a comedic vein first tapped in 1937 with the original Topper movie, Ghost Town stars British comic actor Ricky Gervais (creator of the Brit version of The Office) as misanthropic dentist Bertram Pincus, whose near-death experience during a minor surgical procedure endows him with the power to both see and commune with frustrated, earthbound spirits. Bertram's most persistent tormentor is a sleazy, recently departed womanizer named Frank (Greg Kinnear), whose grieving widow Gwen (Téa Leoni) is one of the dentist's neighbors. Eventually, Bertram strikes a bargain with Frank: in exchange for some peace and quiet, he'll break up Gwen's relationship with an earnest activist lawyer (Bill Campbell), although—not surprisingly—his efforts lead Bertram to fall in love with Gwen himself. Gervais is much funnier than the material (many of his best moments have an improvisational quality that in lesser hands would have seemed forced), although he's somewhat less convincing as a romantic rebound for Leoni's character. Co-written and directed by David Koepp, Ghost Town's third act suffers a bit from too much sentimentality, but this is a minor flaw in what otherwise stacks up as one of 2008's better romcoms. Recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by writer-director David Koepp and star Ricky Gervais, a 23-minute “making-of” featurette, six minutes of “Some People Can Do It” outtakes, a two-minute “Ghostly Effects” special effects featurette, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a winning film.] (E. Hulse)