Ghost Town

Contributed by Mike Fishman.

Starring Ricky Gervais, Téa, Leone, Greg Kinnera, directed by David Koepp, written by David Koepp and John Kamps.

More drama than comedy, surprising given the trailer but that dramatic emphasis gave some weight to Gervais’s portrayal, nicely doled out, especially in a montage when his character, up to that point a “fucking prick” in the words of co-worker Aasif Mandvi, finally makes amends and does good. Not always logical in the details (why did Kinnear’s character die after being hit by a bus whereas Gervais’s survived? Both buses seemed to be traveling at roughly the same speeds), this is an entertaining story, utilizing New York City well and with some genuine laughs, generated more by dialogue and circumstance than Gervais mugging, which is a good thing; mugging can get so old so fast, especially in Gervais’s case, whose comedy walks a line between despicable and funny. Too much mugging, he becomes annoying. Sweet ending, too, open-ended but hopeful with Téa Leoni’s pleasing, crooked smile sending the audience out into the night on dreams of possible love, and love requited, but not all tied up in a false bow.

Speaking of pleasing visuals, the director stubbornly refused to show us images of Gervais’s character carrying on a conversation with apparently thin air; that is, how it would appear to people around him. Instead, we the audience continually see Kinnear standing next to Gervais and it is left to us to imagine what those around Gervais would see: a man talking to thin air as in, for example, Harvey with Jimmy Stewart. This makes it more of an exercise than it should be (further suspend your already suspended disbelief) whereas it could been a funnier and more absurd experience. Particularly here, where the logic has been worked out nicely (Kinnear and others are ghosts who move through objects and thus would not, for example, leave an indentation if they sat on a sofa), as compared to Harvey, a 6-foot tall rabbit, there were any number of scenes that would have benefited from just one shot of Gervais talking to no one and a reaction shot of a perplexed onlooker. In one scene, Gervais’s office is filled with ghosts that only he can see; his receptionist sees him staring at them; instead of the audience seeing an empty office, we see the ghosts; the humor of the situation has just been deflated. The result was a film less funny than it could have been.