He sees dead people... and they annoy him.
Ghost Town is one of those rare romantic type comedies that doesn’t fall prey to the over use of clichés or sappy sweetness. It remains smart, funny and sometimes bitingly sarcastic.
The premise of Ghost Town falls somewhere between the elements of the recent ‘Over My Dead Body’ and the older ‘Heart and Souls’ and this movie manages to capture the comedy aspects that ‘Over My Dead Body’ failed to live up to and yet match the reaffirming warmth found in ‘Heart and Souls’. For this reviewer it made for a funny and winning combination.
Much of the dialog and premise of Ghost Town relies heavily on the comedic talent of its star, British actor/comedian Ricky Gervais and he delivers the goods with outstanding consistency. Gervais’ droll, deadpan sarcasm delivered in his almost aristocratic accent adds just the right touch of humor needed to bring his character of Dr. Bertram Pincus to life. Pincus is a self centered loner whose only concern is finding ways of keeping the rest of the human race, whom he finds tedious and boring, as far way from him having to interact with them as possible. That life style is going along well for him until something happens that changes his life and brings him the ability to see dead people, whom he finds even more annoying.