''Ghost Town'' is a 2008 American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

David Koepp David Koepp (; born June 9, 1963) is an American filmmaker. Koepp is the ninth most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.3 billion. Koepp has achieved both critical and commercial ...

, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Kamps. It stars English comedian

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad' ...

in his first leading feature-film role, as a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

who can see and talk with ghosts, along with

Téa Leoni Téa Leoni (; born Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni; February 25, 1966) is an American actress. In her early career, she starred in the television sitcoms '' Flying Blind'' (1992–93) and ''The Naked Truth'' (1995–98). Her breakthrough role was in t ...

as a young widow and

Greg Kinnear Gregory Buck Kinnear (born June 17, 1963) is an American actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ''As Good as It Gets'' (1997). Kinnear has appeared in many popular films, including ''Sabrina'' (199 ...

as her recently deceased husband. Gavin Polone produced the film for

Spyglass Entertainment Spyglass Media Group, LLC, formerly Spyglass Entertainment, is an American film production company founded by Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum in 1998. History Spyglass Entertainment On August 21, 1998, Gary Barber, former vice chairman and CO ...

and Pariah, and it was distributed by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

under the

DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG and formerly DreamWorks Studios, commonly referred to as DreamWorks) is an American film company and distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994 as a li ...

label.

Plot

In New York City, Frank Herlihy is accidentally killed by getting hit by a bus while trying to buy an apartment for his mistress. A short time later, anti-social dentist Bertram Pincus is

dead Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

for seven minutes under general anesthesia during a colonoscopy. Afterwards, Bertram can see and communicate with ghosts, who pester him to help them with unfinished personal business. Frank promises to keep the other ghosts away if Bertram breaks up an engagement between his widow Gwen, a professional

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...

, and Richard, a human-rights lawyer who Frank says is dishonest. Bertram eventually agrees, trying to woo Gwen away from Richard. His past cold-hearted behavior towards Gwen makes it difficult, but he attracts her interest by analyzing the teeth of a mummified Egyptian Pharaoh she has been studying. Bertram has dinner with Gwen and Richard, deciding that he is not so bad, but he himself begins to fall in love with her, and she enjoys his sense of humor. As Richard has a work emergency, Bertram and Gwen walk her dog and go for a drink. They share their sad stories of their last relationships, and Gwen reveals that she learned of Frank's mistress the day he died. When Richard visits Bertram for some dental work, he learns Gwen has broken their engagement. Frank doesn't understand why he is still on Earth if his "unfinished business" was to break up Richard and Gwen. Gwen, no longer engaged to Richard, accepts work at an archaeological dig in the

Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...

for six months. As a going-away present, Bertram gets her a key chain from a fancy jeweler's, but he mistakenly reveals information about her that only Frank could have known. Gwen demands the truth, and Bertram tells her the whole story about the ghosts. She doesn't believe him and demands to know what Frank's worst nightmare was, and Frank lies to Bertram, leading Gwen to cut him off. Bertram sinks into a deep depression and his colleague Dr. Prashar convinces him that his life would be better if he decided to stop being cynical and start helping people. Bertram begins helping the ghosts around him with their "unfinished business" on Earth, bringing comfort to people they left behind and enabling the ghosts to depart. As he does this he realizes that the ghosts were still on Earth not because they had unfinished business, but because the people they were close to were not finished with them. Realizing Frank cannot leave because Gwen has not let him go, Bertram confronts her and while trying to persuade her to believe him about the ghosts, gets hit by a bus. Now a ghost, he watches with Frank as a crowd forms and Gwen sobs over him, and Richard arrives to perform CPR. Seeing how upset Gwen is and realizing she cares about Bertram, Frank gives him a piece of advice and finally leaves earth. Bertram ultimately survives the accident. Some time later, while searching for Dr. Prashar for an appointment, Gwen enters Bertram's office. He tells her of Frank's real nightmare—that of losing his way home, which was the advice Frank told him. Bertram then assures her that Frank has "found his way home".

Cast

as Bertram Pincus, a disillusioned dentist who gains the ability to communicate with ghosts. *

as Gwen, an Egyptologist and Frank's widow. *

as Frank Herlihy, an unscrupulous ghost who enlists Bertram's help. *

Billy Campbell William Oliver Campbell (born July 7, 1959) is an American film and television actor. He first gained recognition for his recurring role as Luke Fuller in the TV series ''Dynasty''. Then he became known for playing Rick Sammler on '' Once and A ...

as Richard, Gwen's love interest, whom Frank warns is a "bad man". *

Kristen Wiig Kristen Carroll Wiig (; born August 22, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Canandaigua, New York, she was raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Rochester, New York. She moved to Los Angeles, where she joi ...

as Bertram's self-involved surgeon. *

Dana Ivey Dana Robins Ivey (born August 12, 1941) is an American actress. She is a five-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway, and won the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her work in both ''Sex and Longing' ...

as Marjorie Pickthall *

Aasif Mandvi Aasif Hakim Mandviwala (born March 5, 1966), known professionally as Aasif Mandvi (, ), is a British-American actor, comedian and author. He was a correspondent on ''The Daily Show'' from 2006 to 2017. Mandvi's other television work includes the ...

as Dr. Prashar, Bertram's colleague. *

Alan Ruck Alan Douglas Ruck (born July 1, 1956) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Cameron Frye, Ferris Bueller's best friend, in John Hughes's film ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986); Stuart Bondek, a lecherous, power-hungry member of ...

as the ghost of a family man; he competes with Frank for Bertram's attention. *

Betty Gilpin Elizabeth Folan Gilpin (born July 21, 1986) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Debbie "Liberty Belle" Eagan in the Netflix comedy series '' GLOW'' (2017–2019), for which she was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards f ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Nurse * Brian d'Arcy James as Irish Eddie *

Brian Tarantina Brian Tarantina (March 27, 1959 – November 2, 2019) was an American stage, screen, and television character actor born in New York City. He was known for his roles on such shows as ''One Life to Live'', ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'', and ''Gil ...

as Ghost Cop *

Jeff Hiller Jeff Hiller is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his portrayal of Joel on '' Somebody Somewhere''. He is also known for his role as Mr. Whitely in '' American Horror Story: NYC''. Life and career Hiller graduated from Texas Lut ...

as a naked ghost. *

Michael-Leon Wooley Michael-Leon Wooley (born March 29, 1971) is an American actor. Wooley was the voice of Louis the Alligator in Disney's Oscar-nominated animated feature film, ''The Princess and the Frog'' and played Judge Grady on the radio station WKTT in Roc ...

as a medical attorney. *

Aaron Tveit Aaron Kyle Tveit (; born October 21, 1983) is an American actor. Tveit originated the lead role of Christian the composer in the stage adaptation of ''Moulin Rouge!'' on Broadway, a performance for which he won the 2020 Tony Award for Best Acto ...

as the anesthesiologist. *

Bridget Moloney Bridget is an Irish female name derived from the Gaelic noun ''brígh'', meaning "power, strength, vigor, virtue". An alternate meaning of the name is "exalted one". Its popularity, especially in Ireland, is largely related to the popularity of ...

as the receptionist. *

Joey Mazzarino Joseph Mazzarino (; born June 4, 1968) is an American actor, puppeteer, writer and director. He is best known for his roles on ''Sesame Street'' as Murray Monster, Stinky the Stinkweed and other Muppets, and being Head Writer and Director on ' ...

as food delivery guy.

Production

Filming took place on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

of New York City. Regarding his character, lead actor Ricky Gervais said, "Just what America wants: a fat, British, middle-aged

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

trying to be a semi-romantic lead.""Fall Movie Summer Preview, September: Ghost Town." ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'', Iss. #1007/1008, August 22/29, 2008, pg.55.

Soundtrack

# "I'm Still In Love (w/You)" – written and performed by Dusty Wright (aka Mark J. Petracca) # "

I'm Looking Through You "I'm Looking Through You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1965 album ''Rubber Soul''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. McCartney wrote the song about English actress Jane Asher, his ...

" – written by

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, performed by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

(opening title) # " The Heart of Life" – written and performed by

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

(ending title) # "What I'm Looking For" – written and performed by

Brendan Benson Brendan Benson (born November 14, 1970) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums. He has released eight solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs. Recording career ''One Missi ...

# "

Sabre Dance "Sabre Dance", ''Suserov par''; russian: Танец с саблями, ''Tanets s sablyami'' is a Movement (music), movement in the final act of Aram Khachaturian's ballet ''Gayane (ballet), Gayane'' (1942), where the Ballet dancer, dancers dis ...

" – Written by

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armenian ...

# "What I'm Looking For" – written and performed by Brendan Benson # "

Sideways ''Sideways'' is a 2004 American comedy-drama road film directed by Alexander Payne and written by Jim Taylor and Payne. A film adaptation of Rex Pickett's 2004 novel of the same name, ''Sideways'' follows two men in their forties, Miles Raymo ...

" – written and performed by Citizen Cope # "Which Way Your Heart Will Go" – written and performed by

Mason Jennings Mason Jennings is an American folk-pop singer-songwriter. Biography Born in Hawaii, Jennings moved with his family to Pittsburgh at an early age. Jennings learned to play guitar at the age of 13, when he began writing songs. Jennings later dr ...

# "Please Be Patient With Me" – written by

Jeff Tweedy Jeffrey Scot Tweedy (born August 25, 1967) is an American musician, songwriter, author, and record producer best known as the singer and guitarist of the band Wilco. Tweedy, originally from Belleville, Illinois, started his music career in high s ...

, Performed by

Wilco Wilco is an American alternative rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of alternative country group Uncle Tupelo following singer Jay Farrar's departure. Wilco's lineup changed frequently dur ...

# Original Score – composed by

Geoff Zanelli Geoffrey Zanelli is an American composer working primarily in the medium of film, television, and video game scores. His early career was notable for scoring additional music on roughly 30 film scores written by Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Harry ...

Reception

Box office

The film opened at #8 at the North American box office making

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

$5,012,315 in its opening weekend.

Critical reception

Reviews of ''Ghost Town'' were mostly positive. The film holds a score of 85% from 184 reviews collected by review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

. The site's consensus states: "Ricky Gervais' consistently sharp performance and beautifully dry execution transform this otherwise mainstream comedy into an endearing, funny, and altogether snappy romantic comedy. With ghosts." Rotten Tomatoes gave it a Golden Tomato for Best Romance Film of 2008. The film received a rating of 72 out of 100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

from 30 reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film three out of four stars in the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'', calling it a "lightweight rom-com elevated by its performances" and a "reminder that the funniest people are often not comedians, but actors playing straight in funny roles." Cosmo Landesman of ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' gave the film three stars (from five), calling it a "light comedy full of dark people" that's "never quite as funny as it needs to be" but which features a "fine performance" from Gervais. Upon the film's March 2009 DVD release in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Mark Kermode Mark James Patrick Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter and podcaster. He is the chief film critic for ''The Observer'', contributes to the magazine ''Sight & Sound'', prese ...

said "comparing ''Ghost Town'' with

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

's 'early funny ones' may seem brash, but the gentle blend of absurdist fantasy, bittersweet romcom and deadpan physical humour evokes a string of enjoyable Allen escapades from the sci-fi slapstick of '' Sleeper'' to the ghostly charms of '' Alice''."

Home media

''Ghost Town'' was released in the United States on standard

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

formats on December 27, 2008.STUDIO BRIEFING: November 19, 2008
from MovieWeb.com

References

External links

* * * * {{David Koepp 2008 films 2000s fantasy comedy films 2000s ghost films American fantasy comedy films American ghost films Films about dentistry Films directed by David Koepp Films shot in New York City DreamWorks Pictures films Paramount Pictures films Spyglass Entertainment films Films scored by Geoff Zanelli Films set in New York City Films with screenplays by David Koepp 2008 comedy films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films