Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) loves his job as a dentist. All day long, he works around people with wads of cotton stuffed in their mouths, which is perfect since he isn't much for conversation and genuinely doesn't like people. Following a routine colonoscopy where he insists upon being anesthesized, he keeps having hallucinations. Strange people keep talking to him, people that show up in his bedroom at night begging for his assistance, folks who have no problem when buses drive through them. When he inquires at the hospital, it turns out that he actually died for seven minutes and maybe this is why he can see what he now believes are ghosts.
One ghost in particular, Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), is making his life miserable. He wants Bertram's help because he believes his widow, Gwen (Tea Leoni), is making a terrible mistake in marrying Richard (Billy Campbell), a human rights attorney. As it turns out, Gwen lives in Bertram's building and, many times, he has stolen her cabs in the rain and let the elevator shut on her as she was carrying packages, among many other rude things. She is the last person he wants to help, but Frank has given his home address to all the other Manhattan ghosts and they are making life impossible for him until he meets Frank's demands.
So Bertram gets to know Gwen and in the process, finds out Frank wasn't such a great husband. He had a mistress, which Gwen found out about the day he was unceremoniously killed by an MTA bus. As Bertram spends more time with Gwen, he realizes that Richard really is an okay guy and Frank is just jealous, but he finds himself falling for Gwen. Bertram's journey is one where he realizes that he needs to start caring about others instead of only himself and the road to this discovery is paved with hysterical moments, along with some touching ones.
Ricky Gervais is absolutely priceless in his comedy. I am not really familiar with his work, although he is one of those guys that you look at and say, "I know him from some British comedy show." The way he interacts with the various people he encounters, both living and dead, is truly funny and there are laughs a plenty in Ghost Town, along with a few tears. Tea Leoni does well in her role as the confused widow who is trying to get on with her life and Greg Kinnear is perfect as the cad who still cares for her. Alan Ruck is especially charming as the now-dead dad desperate to help his young son move on.
While I was amused when I first saw the trailer, I had no idea how enjoyable this movie could be. I have seen it both on DVD and Blu-ray, and in watching the Blu-ray version, I was amazed at the radical difference during the scenes where the panoramic views of the sky were shown, or the scenic areas of New York in the fall. They just popped on Blu-ray. Special features are limited to a commentary, a making-of featurette, a gag reel and a featurette on the special effects, but the gag reel is really funny and worth watching. The others are okay, but probably will mainly appeal to cinema devotees or aspiring filmmakers.
All in all, this is a great movie for just about anyone who has a good sense of humor. Its a real treat.
