Ghost Town

British comedian Ricky Gervais gets his first American starring role in the supernatural comedy, Ghost Town. Sure, he's a pretty big star on British TV, and has had a bit role in Night at the Museum, but ultimately, he's pretty unknown to America. Undeservedly.

He is so funny because he doesn't try to be. Sure, he makes jokes, but generally there's no real punchline, no real attempt to be funny. He's just a normal guy, albiet a very very mean normal guy. Greg Kinnear also stars, and these aw-shucks roles he inhibits fit him perfectly.

Bertram Pincus (awesome name) is a selfish, mean, misantrophic dentist. He does anything possible to avoid people. But that changes when during a routine operation, he dies for seven minutes. He wakes up a changed man. How? He can see dead people.

Enter Frank Herilhy. He's also a selfish, self-satisfied guy who's cheating on his wife. He suddenly dies in a freak accident, and pesters Pincus to stop his wife from marrying a complete jerk. Eventually Pincus gives in to help out, but he begins to fall for Frank's wife, who thinks Pincus is a complete jerk. How to deal with this?

Ricky Gervais, like I said, is pitch-perfect in this role. Tea Leoni brings some depth to an average role, she's actually really funny. Even cameos from SNL regular Kristen Wiig bring good laughs. The script is also great, from Jurassic Park/Indiana Jones writer David Koepp. (He also directs) The problem?

For such a complicated premise, one wouldn't expect it to become predictable. But unfortunately, that's exactly what happens in the last half-hour. It becames really easy to guess what will happen next. Some characters seem arbitary, and sometimes there's really obvious Hallmark moments.

But the very ending is poignant and sweet, and it's often hilarious. If it's still playing, be sure to catch it. B