I read somewhere that David Koepp, the writer and director of Ghost Town, was concerned that casting Ricky Gervais was a mistake, because he is basically unknown in the the U.S. Well, David, here’s one guy who went to see your movie because of Ricky Gervais, who I think is a genius. And in so much that you let Gervais do this thing, you were smart.
Gervais, to those who don’t know, was the creator and star of the British version of The Office, the precursor of the current NBC show. The dozen or so episodes of that show are jewels, with Gervais wickedly effective as the boss. I haven’t seen any episodes of his follow-up show, Extras, so I’m glad to have gotten a chance to see him again in this romantic comedy, which is about half sparkling and half flat.
The premise is pretty simple–Gervais is a misanthropic dentist who, while undergoing a colonoscopy, is dead for seven minutes. After he is revived he realizes he can see ghosts, who are delighted, because they want someone to help them settle troubles from their lives. The pushiest of these spirits is Greg Kinnear, a philandering smooth-talker who wants Gervais to break up the engagement of Kinnear’s wife, an Egyptologist played by Tea Leoni. Gervais, who is to be kind somewhat toad-like in appearance, decides to try to seduce Leoni. Zaniness ensues.
This plot is a hash of the old Cary Grant picture, Topper, plus a bit of Groundhog Day. There was also a film from last year with Eva Longoria, which I didn’t see and I can’t even remember the title of, that was about a ghost trying to break up a relationship. But Ghost Town has the advantage of Gervais. His specialty is the humor of embarrassment, the cringe-worthy exchanges of brutal honesty and social cluelessness (such as calling a woman he is trying to seduce an “idiot,” or asking his colleague, a Hindu, for torture techniques). He is an absolute delight to watch, and drew a lot of laughs from the audience I was with. The thinness of the material, though, gives us the impression that Gervais is slumming a bit, as if Noel Coward were writing ad copy. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gervais discusses how he has turned down several Hollywood roles, including a Pirates of the Caribbean and a remake of Arthur, so clearly the man has scruples. I would hope at some point we will see him in a film of his own creation.
Ghost Town also suffers from its director. Koepp, who is written many screenplays for Steven Spielberg, doesn’t show much panache as a director of comedy. In several places the pace is all wrong, and it lacks the zip of classic screwball comedy.
I was pleasantly surprised by Tea Leoni, though. After the debacle of her performance in Spanglish, I would have never thought I could stand to watch her again, but she seems real and even desirable in this picture. Kinnear, who is no Cary Grant, is fine in a tough role as a callow asshole. This is where the Groundhog Day comparisons kick in–both Kinnear and Gervais’ characters are men who come to realize they must try to be better people. Kinnear just happens to be dead.
If you’re not a Ricky Gervais fan there is no particular reason to see this film, but if you are sit back and enjoy.
Gone Elsewhere 
Looking forward to this. I haven’t been very impressed with Gervais’ choices for his theatrical career (slumming in bad animated crap, Night at the Museum, etc) but between this and 2009’s This Side of Truth the tide looks to be turning.
You Kill Me also served as rehab for Leoni’s Spanglish crash-and-burn. I thought it was a very likable, human performance.
Actually You Kill Me is a pretty decent movie overall, despite seeming like a remake of The Matador.
You like him that much and you never saw Extras? Heretic…
I, too, think Gervais is a comedy god, and I have seen each episode of the BBC office at least ten times.
“Let’s grow ourselves a big goggled-eyed freak of a son!”
What was cool about the Office, was at the end, they knew the central theme of that show was what was happening with Tim and Dawn, even though Brent stole all the thunder.
Great review, can’t wait to see Gervais’s performance in this.
I watch very little TV these days, and can’t even keep track of what’s on what station. Was Extras on HBO? Then I couldn’t have watched it, because I don’t get HBO. I can say the usual “I’ll catch in on DVD,” but I don’t see seem to have time for that. I still need to catch up with Deadwood, Rome, The Wire, and have a dozen other TV shows that people keep telling me I need to see.
Apart from sport and movies (due to having pay-TV and wide selection of both) I also watch very few TV series these days. Even if I do see a TV series that interests me, I’d probably prefer to borrow/buy it on DVD and just watch it in one whole go (as I’ve been doing with ‘That 70’s Show’) as opposed to waiting for unreliable TV networks to maintain their schedule.
As for ‘Ghost Town’ watched the trailer and it looked ‘seen it all before’, especially as it’s hardly an original topic it was covering. Not surprised it hasn’t done well in America judging by early box office returns.
Because Gervais is a bigger name down here, it’s opening on Boxing Day and should do better. Being a big fan of ‘The Office’ (never seen ‘Extras’) I’ll give it a look.
Saw this last night, and agree with much of what JS wrote, although I probably liked it a shade less.
I thought the first 25 minutes or so were pretty weak, with many potential comic situations misfiring. Especially so the hospital scenes (I thought the actress playing the suntanned surgeon was way off-key).
But surprisingly enough, the film got going when Gervais and Leoni regularly had scenes together; as unlikely as it seemed they had a fair bit of chemistry and helped in part overlook a fairly weak plot.
And there are a lot of flaws and dubious scenes in the film; the weakest is when Gervais somehow convinces Leoni to list all the flaws of her dead husband.
As a comedy, it improved after a shoddy start and had some chuckles here and there but that was mainly down the skills of the cast, Gervais in particular. As JS says, Koepp’s comic timing isn’t his strong point.
It’s a likable film in many ways, has some sharp observations and deft moments (liked how the final scene was done). I just wish it had been better than it was.