Ghost Town

by Pa Rock
Movie Critic

Ghost Town is a wonderful film, funny and touching, a good story brought to life by an outstanding cast. It is a quirky tale about a dentist who dies for seven minutes during a colonoscopy and, when he comes back to life, is suddenly plagued by a host of New York ghosts who all pursue him to complete business that was left unfinished when they died.

This movie, in some respects, is very reminiscent of 1990's film classic, Ghost. Greg Kinnear is a young professional who dies suddenly leaving behind a beautiful and smart wife, Tea Leoni - very similar to the situation encountered by Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore in Ghost. Unfortunately for Kinnear, he was not the husband that Patrick Swayze was, and his widow is wracked with anger instead of grief. And then Ricky Gervais stumbles in as the person who can see and talk to ghosts, and he is being leaned on by the dearly departed to help them resolve their issues so that they can move on. Are we all thinking Whoopi Goldberg?

What distinguishes this ghost movie from the earlier one is the strong focus on the personal growth of the Ricky Gervais character. We watch as he evolves from a self-absorbed jerk into a funny and lovable individual, one with the ability to truly care for others. His metamorphosis is the nut of the movie.

In spite of the similarities to the earlier classic, Ghost Town is a great film in its own right. It is immensely entertaining, and I will undoubtedly enjoy it several more times on cable, just as I have with that other ghost movie!