How to best describe the romantic comedy/fantasy, Ghost Town? Think of it as A Christmas Carol meets Ghost. Now, I know what you’re thinking: A Christmas Carol already has ghosts in it, so isn’t that a bit redundant? The answer, however, would be, no. Unless there’s a part about Scrooge falling in love with the widow of one of the ghosts of Christmas Whatever that I’m forgetting about. And it’s not even as simple as that, because the film has elements of Cyrano de Bergerac as well. Hmm, how to describe this?
So, first we have Ricky Gervais, playing Bertram Pincus D.D.S., a miserable bastard just as every bit deserving of his name as Ebenezer Scrooge. Think of Pincus as a spin on David Brent, his miserable bastard of a boss character from the original Office (i.e. the mean-spirited character that the American Office‘s Michael Scott is a much kinder version of). He is what would happen if Pincus had had a life-changing experience that caused him to ultimately see the error of his ways–or a life-temporarily-ending experience, rather, when Pincus dies for seven minutes on the operating table, during a colonoscopy for which he demanded general anesthetic, even though it wasn’t recommended. After being successfully resuscitated, Pincus discovers he is able to see ghosts, and more inconveniently for him, the ghosts discover he can see them.
Soon after, every ghost in New York is hitting Pincus up for help at either reconnecting with their still-living loved ones or resolving the issues that are keeping them earth-bound. It is at this point that Pincus, against his will, transforms into Whoopi’s psychic character in Ghost. The catch, however, is that, instead of a hopelessly romantic Patrick Swayze wanting to contact his lovely and sad widow, Pincus’ main ghostly visitor is Frank Herlihy, a yuppie asshole played by Greg Kinnear who manages to make the character both likable and smarmy at the same time, a trait that explains why he could be so attractive to women and so persuasive to Pincus. He’s the kind of guy who won’t take no for an answer.
In life, Frank cheated on his loving wife, Gwen (Tea Leoni), and now he seems to have developed uncharacteristic guilt about this. He tries to sublimate these feelings, however, by focusing on his feelings of jealousy, as his main goal now is to break up Gwen and her new fiancee, Richard (Bill Campbell). He enlists the originally unwilling Pincus to insert himself into Gwen’s life and to get her to fall for him, instead. This is, naturally, where Cyrano comes in–Frank hovers around Pincus, providing him with the information he’ll need to woo his wife. He doesn’t need to hide behind a bush, however, being invisible and all.
And the film proceeds from there. Basically, it’s what would have happened had Demi Moore started to date a new man in Ghost, and Patrick Swayze then convinced Whoopi to hit on Demi. What may be the most complimentary thing I can say about Ghost Town, however, is that, although the story follows a pretty obvious trajectory, overall–of course, Pincus will fall in love with Gwen; of course, his experiences will lead to him becoming a kinder person–it is still extremely entertaining. Gervais brings a fantastic edge to the role of Pincus, because at the start, he is not the sort of lovable curmudgeon we most often see in this sort of Hollywood film. He is a bitter, all-out misanthrope, with the full acerbic bite of Gervais’ most famous persona. Furthermore, the softening of his character is done both gradually and organically in a manner that is refreshingly devoid of moralizing. The basic message is, “Don’t be a jerk, because if you’re a nicer person, you’ll be much happier,” not “Being a jerk is harmful to other people,” as other, similar stories argue.
Ghost Town also provides a neat twist to the typical Christmas Carol tale, which is that (as previously mentioned) the main ghost in Pincus’ life hasn’t come to teach Pincus a valuable lesson about himself a la Dickens or It’s a Wonderful Life. He is actually just as much of a bastard as Pincus initially is, and over the course of the film, the two of them will come to affect one another. They will also both backslide at times, even after seeming to be set on the right path, which feels more honest than the average, wacky supernatural-tinged rom-com. There’s also the interesting nuance that the guy whose life they’re trying to ruin is actually a really decent guy–a bit of a tool or a poseur, perhaps, but a generally good person with good intentions. When watching a film of this sort, one isn’t usually put in the position of questioning whether the protagonist of the piece is the one you should really be rooting for.
Also, unlike many romantic comedies, Gwen, the female lead, as portrayed by the wonderful Leoni, is a strong, smart character who has autonomy and is not defined by the men in her life. She is very passionate about her career (archeology) and basically knows what she wants out of life; even when it takes her some time to realize what that is, when she finally does know, she acts upon it, rather than just letting things happen to her. Leoni plays Gwen’s mourning over Frank with subtlety and grace. One can tell that she has been hurt by him and his death, and is still affected by it, but that she also has not fallen apart. Most importantly, the evolution of her interest in Pincus, which grows from complete dislike to warmth, feels realistic. We don’t question how this intelligent, sexy woman would start to be interested in a person like Pincus, because we see the two of them change together.
So there you have it. Ghost Town is a sweet, little fantasy film that doesn’t reinvent the wheel of supernatural romantic comedies but is nevertheless a strong entry in the genre that condescends to neither its audience nor its characters. It certainly takes a page from a number of previous films and stories but also has the moxie to diverge in some key areas, making it far more intelligent than one might expect and far more meaningful than yet another cookie-cutter Hollywood retread.
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Related posts:
- Christmas Flashback: It’s a Wonderful Life
- Torchwood: "Dead Man Walking"
- Caprica 1.08: “Ghost in the Machine”
- The Muppet Christmas Carol
- Steampunk Superhero: Mann’s Ghosts of Manhattan
