Ghost Town

UK Release: 24th October 2008

Watched on DVD: Thursday 12th January 2012

Rating: 12A

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

Runtime: 1hr 42mins

Tagline: He sees dead people... and they annoy him.

IMDb Plot Synopsis: Bertram Pincus is a man whose people skills leave much to be desired. When Pincus dies unexpectedly, but is miraculously revived after seven minutes, he wakes up to discover that he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts. Even worse, they all want something from him, particularly Frank Herlihy who pesters him into breaking up the impending marriage of his widow Gwen. That puts Pincus squarely in the middle of a triangle with spirited result.

My Review: I didn’t have too many expectation of this film and, while the film exceeded them, it still wasn’t the most amazing film I’ve ever seen. It was reasonably funny, which is something and there are a few sweet moments but the only thing, or should I say person that kept the film from falling apart into a load of sentimental mush for me wasn’t, as you would hope, the lead Ricky Gervais. No, it was Kristen Wiig who was hilarious in the little screen time she had and kept the film alive (no pun intended).

But maybe I’m being a bit unfair. Yes, I’m not Gervais’ biggest fan but it was more moving than I had anticipated, I’ll give it that. The love story between Pincus and Gwen is much more adult and realistic than many rom-coms nowadays and Téa Leoni gave the film all the heart it has. 

For what it is, it does the job OK and for a weekday evening film it makes you feel a little bit better which is what any decent film should do...

Score: 7/10