Koepp strangely captures the cheeky charm and chippy imagination of Ghost Town that could have been deemed just another faceless formulaic fantasy.
Comment
09/19/08
Rate this Movie 
Ghost Town (2008)
85
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
Reviews Counted:171
Fresh:145
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.
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... [More]
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Téa Leoni, Greg Kinnear, Billy Campbell
Director: David Koepp
Get This Movie
Rent DVD
Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.
Buy DVD
Reviews for Ghost Town
That pervasive sense of the humanistic, along with judicious use of, but not overreliance on, special effects and some exceptionally clever staging of actors...should earn Ghost Town some fast and furious word of mouth.
09/19/08
Ghost Town is a non-horror ghost movie dressed up as a comedy...Instead of seeing people hacked to death in formula fashion, they're bored to death in the same style.
09/19/08
Ghost Town is a fantasy charmer, from its tight cast and excellent soundtrack to its complex characters and soulful climax.
09/19/08
Naturally, Koepp makes it his business to redeem this unpleasant character and recast him as an acceptable stand-in for a romantic lead. But cynics should not despair; it's not a complete makeover.
09/19/08
It's enlivened by the performance of Ricky Gervais as Bertram Pincus, a latter-day Scrooge for whom the living are no less annoying than the dead.
09/19/08
Top CriticGhost Town has plenty of the kind of supernatural hijinks that you'd expect from a plot about the haunting, needy dead, but it also has something to say about how to live.
09/19/08
The best part of the movie is watching Gervais and Leoni delight in each other in scenes that burst with spontaneity and genuine warmth.
09/19/08
Sure, it's a light comedy, but it effectively achieves what it sets out to do: amuse us and tug on our heartstrings. And best of all, it's written, directed and acted with intelligence and wit.
09/19/08
The film works as a showcase for Gervais, who plays an oddly likable jerk with surprising subtlety.
09/19/08
Through it all there always shone this subtle, gleeful naughty schoolboy charm, not quite a full-on wink at the audience, but a tacit acknowledgement that sometimes even total jerks can exhibit an endearing charm.
09/19/08
Ghost Town isn't terrible; if it were on TV, I'd watch it. But it's a couple of steps away from being good, and many more steps away from being as good as the movies and plays it swipes from.
09/19/08
Fans of Gervais' awkward, caustic brand of humor should be pleased to see him in a big Hollywood movie that'll make him more of a household name.
09/19/08
Ghost Town, a romantic comedy about the living and the dead coming to terms with each other, is both very funny and a bit of a tearjerker, with an on-the-money performance from Ricky Gervais and a nice feeling for New York in fall.
09/19/08
Leoni and Gervais are wonderful together, as much for the ways in which they wobble against each other as for the ways they ultimately mesh.
09/19/08
Top CriticLeoni seems genuinely delighted by Gervais, cracking up with a gusto that never seems rehearsed.
09/19/08
The terrific thing in this romantic comedy is the way Hollywood's best and brightest lift their games to match the formidable Gervais in witty exchanges.
09/19/08
It is the chemistry between Leoni and Gervais that makes this film the great romantic comedy that it is.
09/19/08
'Ghost Town'may turn out to be the feel good movie of the year.
09/19/08
Although ghost hijinks are a very Hollywood way of dealing with the subject, the twists are executed superbly, right up to a climax that fits the David Mamet definition of what makes for a perfect ending: It is both surprising and inevitable.
09/19/08
Top CriticLatest 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...
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
Wes Anderson on Fox 
The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox
Animated Oscar?
Hollywood.com ponders whether or not an animated film could win Best Picture.
TIME's Holiday Movie Preview
Richard Corliss previews the season's best offerings and hottest tickets.
Scenic Routes
The AV Club's Mike D'Angelo airs his beefs with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds