I see dead people: Ricky Gervais (left) portrays a dentist who, after a near-death experience, gets a rude awakening in "Ghost Town."Sarah ShatzDreamworks LLC
As a professional pencil-pusher, I can only imagine with envy the fortune David Koepp must have amassed for writing or contributing to the scripts of "Jurassic Park," "Mission: Impossible," "Spider-Man," "War of the Worlds" and other movies better known for their directors (Steven Spielberg) and stars (Tom Cruise) than their typists.
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I see dead people: Ricky Gervais (left) portrays a dentist who, after a near-death experience, gets a rude awakening in "Ghost Town."Sarah ShatzDreamworks LLC
Koepp holds back some of his best writing for his own infrequent directorial efforts. "Secret Window" (2004), adapted from a Stephen King story, wasn't particularly revelatory, but Koepp's previous features -- the unjustly neglected "The Trigger Effect" (1996) and the eerie "Stir of Echoes" (1999) -- are wonderfully effective throwbacks to the smart scares found in the pre-blockbuster era of fantasy movies and on "The Twilight Zone."
Despite the welcome presence of British comic actor Ricky Gervais (who isn't exactly a star in America) in the lead role, "Ghost Town" appears to be Koepp's bid for a commercial hit. The movie deserves all the success likely to come its way.
Again, Koepp has delivered something of a throwback, but his inspirations are marvelous: "Ghost Town" offers an update of the supernatural farce found in "Topper," "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" and other comedies from Hollywood's so-called golden age, when the term "adult" meant "sophisticated." It's a movie that truly seems like it could have been written for Howard Hawks or Billy Wilder or any of the expert comedy directors of the past.
Gervais -- star of the original British version of "The Office" and the cult BBC/HBO series "Extras" -- plays Dr. Bertram Pincus, an antisocial, even misanthropic dentist (yes, he has a broken heart) who begins attracting needy ghosts the way a man with a Pronto pup attracts stray dogs after he "technically" dies and then recovers during surgery.
The most tenacious of his pursuers is Frank (Greg Kinnear), a deceased philanderer fated to wander eternity in the tuxedo he wore at the time of his death (a sartorial detail that pays homage to the ghostly Cary Grant in "Topper"). Just as Scrooge tried to dismiss the chain-rattling Marley as "an undigested bit of beef," Pincus rationalizes Frank's presence as "the bizarre after-effects of a poorly administered anesthesia." Of course, Frank eventually convinces him otherwise. "New York is lousy with ghosts," he says, "and they're a noisy, pushy, demanding bunch -- same as when they were alive."
Frank wants Pincus to break up the developing romance between his Egyptologist widow (Téa Leoni) and a seemingly selfless if somewhat uptight human-rights lawyer (Billy Campbell). It's not giving anything away nor is it a knock on the script to say that the dentist falls for the mummy enthusiast, wooing her with his insights into pharaonic mandibular decay.
Koepp is a clever director who, for the most part, efficiently establishes the limited supernatural powers of his ghosts with blocking and staging rather than with special effects. The script (co-credited to John Kamps) is the real star here, however. The movie is filled with entertaining conversation ("It's not so much crowds, it's the individuals in the crowd I don't like," Pincus says) that is not only witty but even occasionally informative. (Koepp shows off his writerly research into dentistry and ancient Egypt.) The story is somewhat over-structured, even over-redemptive; I could have done without the plaintive, modern singer-songwriter sounds that set the inspirational mood late in the movie. (Although I was happy to hear one of my favorite Beatles recordings, "I'm Looking Through You," early in the run time.) Such quibbles ultimately are as unimportant as a bit of undigested beef, a blot of mustard or a crumb of cheese. "Ghost Town" is for real.
-- John Beifuss, 529-2394
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