The Movie Press
  • Movie Reviews
  • Twitter News/Updates
  • News & Notes
  • DVD
  • Box Office Results
  • Contact
  • About Us

Gervais and Kinnear haunt viewers in Ghost Town

9/18/2008

0 Comments

 

You may not know who Ricky Gervais is. You should, because he's hilarious on UK shows such as The Office and Extras, but he's not well-known in the U.S. That might be about to change, but given the barren early screening this past week, we're banking on a not so much.

Ghost Town is the tale of Dr. Pinkus (Gervais), who is, frankly, kind of a dick. The dentist hates everyone. Dogs, children, patients, everyone. When he goes in for a colonoscopy and demands anesthesia, he dies for seven minutes due to complications. Because of his (temporary) death, Pinkus can now see dead people. (Cue The Sixth Sense jokes.) And those dead people will not leave him the fuck alone.

Apparently ghosts only stick around if they have unfinished business. Like, duh, Casper taught us that. But in this flick, they demand that Pinkus help them, and when one persuasive ghost, Frank, (the ever-likable Greg Kinnear) cuts a deal with the good doc, that if Pinkus can stop Frank's wife (Tea Leoni) from marrying a supposed prick, he'll get all the ghosts to leave him alone. Cue the cliche romantic comedy crap about girl hating boy at first and then romance ensuing.

But, wait! This romantic comedy has a couple of things going for it, namely Gervais. While the script seems a bit trite at times, the moments when Gervais is going off on his Gervais shtick (we're assuming that the script read, "dialogue, Ricky does his thing for three minutes, and more dialogue") are pure comedic gold. He makes fun of Chinese people, cracks bad jokes about gingivitis, and discusses his disgusting gag reflex. C'mon, that shit is hilarious.

Yeah, okay, it's pretty typical fare with a few golden nuggets, but it definitely provides some good laughs, and the chemistry between Gervais and Kinnear is pretty ad-or-able, even if the supporting characters of Ghost Town are fairly muted compared to the outlandish ones Gervais is used to. And, the throwback to '30s rom coms with extreme happy endings feels sorta like a high-concept Hollywood concoction Gervais would have ridiculed in Extras. Oh well, it made us laugh..and then feel superior with reminiscing the Rickster's funnier works.

Review by: Darcie Duttweiler



0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    October 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    July 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008

    Categories

    All
    Austin Film Festival
    Darcie Duttweiler Reviews
    Derrick Mitcham Reviews
    Eric Harrelson Reviews
    Eric Pulsifer Reviews
    Eric Pulsifer Reviews
    Fantastic Fest
    Greg Maclennan Reviews
    Greg Wilson Reviews
    Jessica Hixson Reviews
    Mark Collins Reviews
    Monte Monreal Reviews
    Reviews
    Rob Heidrick Reviews
    Rob Heidrick Reviews
    Sxsw

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.