Ghost Town

Review in a Hurry: Clinically dead for seven minutes, a self-absorbed Manhattan dentist is revived, only to find himself hounded by ghosts. And by Jove, do they annoy him. Derailed by a romantic subplot, Ghost Town fails to make use of the dead as proper comedic fodder.

The Bigger Picture: Ricky Gervais, creator of Britain's screamingly hilarious series The Office, plays it misanthropic rather than acerbic in Ghost Town as Bertram Pincus, a "prick" of a dentist who can now see dead people. Gagging on elements of Ghost and The Sixth Sense, the film finds Pincus dogged at every step by spirits with unfinished business on Earth.

Most persistent among them is Frank (Greg Kinnear), a tuxedo-clad philander who bit the dust while screaming at the realtor who revealed his affair. Imploring Pincus to dismantle the engagement of his archaeologist widow, Gwen (Téa Leoni), the emotionally bereft dentist becomes smitten with her himself, with predictable, boorish results.

Not quite dead on arrival, the amusing premise takes a backseat to the not-quite-romantic subplot. Although distracted by the spirits' running commentaries and visits to his office, it's only after a fellow dentist, unaware of his plight, calls Pincus out on his prickitude that the film gains a pulse.

The gaggle of ghosts—a dad, a kindly old woman, construction workers, a biker and the persistent naked guy so prominently and strangely splashed all over the trailers—deserve more screen time, it's strange to say, in this film about spirits, which is funnier than Ghost Dad but painfully transparent compared to 1937's Topper.

The 180—a Second Opinion: Gervais is convincing as the heartless everyman, and Kinnear delivers smarmy charm, but Gervais' fans will be surprised by the film's lack of bite. Perhaps if he had been wielding the pen, Ghost Town wouldn't so desperately need to "go toward the light."