RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Ghost Town
Ghost Town

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Ghost Town (2008)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
85 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:172

Fresh:146

Rotten:26

Average Rating:6.9/10

Consensus: 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.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for some strong language, sexual humor and drug references.

Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Sep 19, 2008 Wide

Box Office: $13,214,030

Synopsis: Director and screenwriter David Koepp (STIR OF ECHOES, SECRET WINDOW) brings Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, and Téa Leoni together for a romantic comedy with a twist of the supernatural. Dr. Bertram... Director and screenwriter David Koepp (STIR OF ECHOES, SECRET WINDOW) brings Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, and Téa Leoni together for a romantic comedy with a twist of the supernatural. Dr. Bertram Pincus (Gervais) doesn't like people very much. In fact, the antisocial dentist does everything he can to avoid interaction with other human beings. Unfortunately, he gets more than he bargained for when he is released from the hospital after undergoing a standard procedure: he can see dead people, and they can see him. Suddenly, every ghost in New York City wants Pincus to help clean up their unfinished business. Dapper Frank (Kinnear) is the most persistent ghost, badgering Pincus to help keep his widow, Gwen (Leoni), from making a big mistake. Gervais is perfect as Pincus, whose deadpan expressions make obvious his disdain for people. His comic timing is spot on throughout the film. Kinnear makes Frank likable, not an easy feat since he apparently wasn't such an upstanding guy when he was alive and married to Leoni's Gwen. Aasif Mandvi appears as a dentist sharing Gervais's office, and Billy Campbell is Gwen's new love interest. SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE star Kristen Wiig is a scene-stealer as Pincus's surgeon, particularly when she is trying to avoid telling her patient what went wrong during his procedure. Dana Ivey and Alan Ruck also appear as ghosts in need of help. [More]

Starring: Ricky Gervais, Téa Leoni, Greg Kinnear, Billy Campbell

Starring: Ricky Gervais, Téa Leoni, Greg Kinnear, Billy Campbell, Kristen Wiig, Dana Ivey, Aasif Mandvi

Director: David Koepp

Director: David Koepp
Screenwriter: David Koepp, John Kamps
Producer: Gavin Polone
Composer: Geoff Zanelli
Studio: Paramount Pictures

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
    RT Review Revue - Ghost Town, Lakeview Terrace, My Best Friend's Girl, Igor
    >
    Ricky Gervais Accepts Certifed Fresh Award
    >
1 - 3 of 3

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

May 5, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

Blu-ray Disc Features:

  • Region [unknown]
  • NTSC
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French, Spanish
  • Subtitles - English, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Additional Products:

  • Movie Cash Coupon
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Ghost Town

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A warm, clever and often very funny film. On this showing, Gervais's assault on Hollywood looks winnable.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
10/24/08
Robert Hanks
Robert Hanks
Independent

This makes it certainly one of the best American comedies of the year. Belly laughs are hard to come by but the smiles are consistent throughout.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
10/24/08
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

Ghost Town is a watchable comedy with several good laughs, but Gervais can't pull off a convincing nice guy act, so the emotional climax falls flat.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment 2 Comments
10/24/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Just when the movie seems to be slipping into Hollywood maudlin mode, Gervais deftly tugs it away and into irony or absurdity. It's a relief he has survived Tinseltown sentimentalism.

Full Review Source: Teletext | comment Comment
10/23/08
Victor Olliver
Victor Olliver
Teletext

A funny story with winning performances, and if you look closely, you might even find a surprisingly thoughtful message about grief.

Full Review Source: The Cinema Source | comment Comment
10/12/08
Michael Dance
Michael Dance
The Cinema Source

Director David Koepp turns a ghost story into a less-than-great comedy.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
10/10/08
Todd Gilchrist
Todd Gilchrist
IGN Movies

Writer/director David Koepp has provided Gervais with the perfect vehicle for his quirky, sardonic wit as he plays the tactless and socially inept dentist Bertram Pincus who only wants to be left alone.

Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | comment Comment
10/10/08
Tim Basham
Tim Basham
Paste Magazine

For a film that looks and feels au courant, Ghost Town could slip seamlessly into the rotation at Turner Classic Movies, an observation meant to be a compliment.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
10/08/08
Rex Roberts
Rex Roberts
Film Journal International

This charming film never quite got off the ground for me. I don't think it's worth a trip to the theater, but might make a better DVD rental.

Full Review Source: Sin Magazine | comment Comment
10/06/08
Austin Kennedy
Austin Kennedy
Sin Magazine

The script, and [David] Koepp's sprightly direction, falter only slightly in the closing scenes.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
09/29/08
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

Ghost Town stars one of the world's premier comedic talents in his first starring movie role, but misuses him to an alarming degree.

Full Review Source: The Trend | comment 1 Comment
09/29/08
Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver
The Trend

When I was watching this movie the other day and rethinking my way through it now, all I can recall is Gervais and some other people. He's that good as New York dentist Dr. Bertram Pincus.

Full Review Source: San Antonio Express-News | comment Comment
09/29/08
Larry Ratliff
Larry Ratliff
San Antonio Express-News

The first half has some very good writing, but the film loses its center and wanders in its second half.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
09/28/08
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews

More of a romantic fantasy than a romantic comedy, "Ghost Town" may well prove to be the movie of the year for Those Who Believe.

Full Review Source: Quad City Times (Davenport, IA) | comment Comment
09/27/08
Linda Cook
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

The film would rather give us an earned smile than strain fruitlessly for a guffaw, and its humor is much more dialogue- and character-driven than goofy

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
09/26/08
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

Gervais' double-talking turn as Bertram, a morose Noel Coward figure in the body of Lou Costello, is consistenly hilarious and ultimately heart-warming.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
09/26/08
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

Gervais' deadpan expression and sharp comic timing are good for, if not outright laughs, numerous chuckles, in this charming ghost story-meets-romantic comedy.

Full Review Source: Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) | comment Comment
09/26/08
John Wirt
John Wirt
Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)

Ricky Gervais is such an unlikable misanthrope that this clumsy attempt at a redemptive comedy is as antipathetic as Gervais.

Full Review Source: Tolucan Times | comment Comment
09/24/08
Tony Medley
Tony Medley
Tolucan Times

The twists are what make Ghost Town its very own dose of ectoplasmic antics.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
09/24/08
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Ricky Gervais is hilarious and heartwarming at the same time - no easy feat

Full Review Source: jackiekcooper.com | comment Comment
09/23/08
Jackie K. Cooper
Jackie K. Cooper
jackiekcooper.com
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
all

Latest News for Ghost Town

July 02, 2009: The Couch Tomato: This Week's DVD and Blu-ray in Australia
More...

November 14, 2008: Ricky Gervais - RT's Dinner and the Movies Interview - Chapter 5
We continue our series of extended interviews by spending an hour in the company of Britain's funniest man. With a new chapter every day this week, today Gervais finds a job for... More...

November 13, 2008: Ricky Gervais - RT's Dinner and the Movies Interview - Chapter 4
We continue our series of extended interviews by spending an hour in the company of Britain's funniest man. With a new chapter every day this week, today Gervais discusses the... More...

November 12, 2008: Ricky Gervais - RT's Dinner and the Movies Interview - Chapter 3
We continue our series of extended interviews by spending an hour in the company of Britain's funniest man. With a new chapter every day this week, today Gervais discusses a... More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
78% 78% The Hangover
88% 88% Inglourious Basterds
66% 66% Public Enemies
24% 24% G-Force
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
90% 90% District 9
86% 86% 500 Days of Summer
63% 63% Extract
06% 06% All About Steve
78% 78% It Might Get Loud

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Best of the Decade

Best of the Decade

Find out what movies made our list!

Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2

Watch the brand new trailer now!

Clash of the Titans

Clash of the Titans

Prepare to Clash with Titans in this trailer!

Total Recall

Total Recall

RT looks back on Jude Law's best movies!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
33
  • New Toy Story 3 Clip, Photos Posted Source: Slashfilm
20
  • Danny Trejo Talks Machete, Possible Sequels Source: Collider.com
14
  • It's Official: Jackass 3-D Coming in 2010 Source: Collider.com
16
  • Bryan Singer Returning to X-Men for First Class Source: Superhero Hype
102
  • Mark Strong Talks Kick-Ass, John Carter, and Robin Hood Source: Collider.com
1
  • How Avatar Happened: The Path to Innovation Source: CinemaBlend.com
19
  • Rob Marshall Says Pirates 4 Is Still a Maybe Source: ComingSoon.net
32
  • ET Teases Iron Man 2 Teaser Source: Collider.com
28
  • Tobey Maguire Refutes Hobbit Rumors Source: Hollywood Reporter
9
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Avatar Soars to #1 Spot
261
  • RT's Best of the Decade!
140
  • Brittany Murphy: 1977-2009
115
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
69
  • Total Recall: Jude Law's Best Movies
54
  • Critics Consensus: Sherlock Holmes Is Worth Investigating
33
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: District 9 and (500) Days of Summer
32
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
11
  • What We're Watching on Blu-ray from Disney!
8
  • Friday Harvest: Sherlock Holmes, Toy Story 3, and more!
7
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
69
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
24
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
16
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
24
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Ghost Town at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Ghost Town at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
Best Dozen of the Decade
Best Dozen of the Decade External Link

Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

Top 50 of 2009
Top 50 of 2009 External Link

Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.

Santa's Naughty List
Santa's Naughty List External Link

Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.

Top 10 Movies of 2009
Top 10 Movies of 2009 External Link

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Top 20 of the Decade
Top 20 of the Decade External Link

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo
About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Press | Careers
IGN | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | Direct2Drive | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Game Sites | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GIGA.DE | What They Play | Battlefield Heroes
By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. | Support | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! RSS Feeds
IGN’s enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.