Ghost Town marks popular British comedian, Ricky Gervais, first leading role in a feature role. Themes wise, it is a strange pick for the public anti-theist, anti-mainstream figure to choose: a cliché filled romantic comedy, with strong after life connotations. Yet Ghost Town works thanks to Gervais’s particular brand of comedy, which this critic affectionately labels “wanker humour”.

Directed and co-written by David Koepp – screenwriter of blockbusters Jurassic Park and Spider Man; director of supernatural thrillers Stir of Echoes and Secret Window – Gervais rocks his prick shtick as socially inept dentist, Bertram Pincus, the type of cynic who loathes small talk, and dreads gatherings of any kind, as evident when he sneaks out of a celebration for his colleagues (Aasif Manvi) birth of his first child.

Things change after a brief fatal occurrence during a medical procedure, opens the floodgates to his being a medium to countless spirits stranded on Earth, who must complete unfinished business before moving on to heaven (or, what is assumed to be heaven, since no clear answer is given on the subject).

The most insistent of the spirits is Frank (Greg Kinnear), an adulterine husband, killed during the opening credits. The interplay between Gervais and Kinnear works very well due to their keen comedic timing, and the scripts mainly well written, snappy dialogue.  

Franks coerces Bertram to help him break up the relationship between his widow, Gwen (Tea Leoni) and her “scumbag” human rights lawyer boyfriend Richard (the criminally underused Bill Campbell). Of course, complications arise when Bertram falls in love with Gwen, thus completing his character arc, and leaving the audience all nice and snugly in the thought that true love can change the most strident of cynics. Or something like that.

Now, whether Gervais repetitive tosser act is a reflection of his true personality is irrelevant, since it works so well. His humour is all over Ghost Town and elevates the films generic rom-com moments, and occasional segway’s into pure re-enactments of scenes from superior films Ghost and The Sixth Sense.

Ghost Town purely works on whether the viewer loves or loathes Gervais. Opinions will be divided.