9/19/08

Ghost Town

What a pleasure! I'm not sure when this opens but I can tell you that the Capitol Hill screening crowd applauded when this comedy/fantasy ended, and they are a tough sell!

Ricky Gervais ("Stardust," "Extras" and "The Office" - the British original) is a bitter, sarcastic loner who does everything he can to antagonize his coworkers, his dental patients and his Manhattan neighbors. His sarcasm is actually quite funny so we were entertained as he insulted, avoided and generally was rude during the first quarter of the film; e.g., he hops in a cab that had stopped for another client; he pushes the "Close Door" button on an elevator after telling an over-laden woman that he would hold it for her; he disregards his coworkers' personal lives.

During a routine colonoscopy he suffers an anomaly and dies for seven minutes. When he awakens he is able to see ghosts of the dead who are hanging around trying to resolve some issues so they can "move on." Naturally they are very excited to encounter a live person who can actually see and hear them and they want to solicit his help. HE has absolutely no interest in helping anyone, to say nothing of dead people, so much of the next part of the film consists of his determined attempts to ditch them. The most persistent and annoying is a former attorney, played by the always excellent Greg Kinnear ("Little Miss Sunshine," "You've Got Mail" and "Baby Mama").

Téa Leoni ("You Kill Me," "Fun With Dick and Jane" and "Flirting With Disaster") plays Kinnear's widow; she is also a neighbor of our hero in his Manhattan apartment building...he closed that elevator door in HER face!

This movie has armloads of the things I like:
  • Great dialogue
  • Attractive stars
  • Beautiful scenery
  • No blowy uppie stuff
  • No car chases
  • A love story
  • Redemption
  • A happy ending

Please go see this pleasant little movie as soon as it opens. It is up against the big summer blockbusters and may disappear without a trace. If it does, put it on your Netflix or Blockbuster list RIGHT NOW!