DVD Review: “Ghost Town”

Gervais amusingly plays Bertram Pincus, a dentist who hates people. (Well, anyone named “Bertram Pincus” deserves to be in a bad mood.) After he undergoes surgery and dies for a few minutes, he comes back with the unwanted ability to see and hear ghosts. These particular spirits are wandering around Manhattan, hoping for someone alive to help them with unresolved issues before they can finally rest. One particularly-pushy poltergeist (Kinnear) tries to get Pincus to help him break up his wife’s, er, widow’s (Leoni) new relationship with an uptight activist (Campbell, who you’ll remember as The Rocketeer some 20 years ago). Except Pincus starts to take an interest in her for himself. Kinnear is his reliably charming self, Gervais is wonderfully brittle, and Leoni has never been better. Koepp is primarily a screenwriter (he brought us the latest Indiana Jones installment), who takes on directing duties once in a while. Enjoyable, nutty movie manages to avoid most of the romantic-comedy cliches. Recommended.