GHOST TOWN
“IT’S EVERYTHING THE AMERICAN PUBLIC WANTS: A FAT, BRITISH, MIDDLE-AGED COMEDIAN TRYING TO BE THE SEMI-ROMANTIC LEAD,” SAID RICKY GERVAIS ABOUT HIS ROLE IN THE FILM GHOST TOWN.
Ghost Town was Ricky Gervais’ first lead role in a Hollywood production. The film also stars Greg Kinnear.
Bertram Pincus (Gervais) is a dentist and loner. One day, he dies during a hospital operation. Luckily, he is resuscitated and recovers, with the added ability of being able to talk to dead people. Eventually, this becomes a bit annoying. One ghost, Frank (Kinnear) begins to pester Bertram.
When Frank was alive, he was married to Gwen. But now that he's gone, she is in a relationship with another man. Frank wants Bertram to put a stop to the relationship. But Bertram isn’t sure he wants to be involved, especially after meeting the nice boyfriend. Bertram also finds that he is falling in love with Gwen.
As the film progresses, Bertram begins to help some of the other ghosts. Some of these spirits are friends and relatives, or the relatives of people he knows. Through his dead friends, Bertram finds out information about Frank and Gwen’s relationship. He realises that they haven’t let go of each other, despite death separating them. Meanwhile, Bertram has fallen out with Gwen after revealing his paranormal friendship with her deceased husband. Gwen, of course, doesn’t believe Bertram, and heads for Egypt to do some archaeological work.