Movie Review: Ghost Town, Hollywood's version of how easy it is to convince people you've heard from their late loved ones

On Friday October 31 I went alone to a movie. TeenE was up at her friend TeenH's house on Finchley Rd, North of the 02 Center. I brought her there by bus, and decided that since I was not at all jet-lagged, having only been back for one day, that I'd stay up "late" and see a movie in which Hubster probably had no interest.

I figured that "Ghost Town" was probably a good candidate, as it was Halloween, after all. Walking south on Finchley Road I encounter a few little kids being taken around in costume by parents (Americans, presumably). There were a few adults in costume, mostly young ladies in extra-skimpy outfits, such as the two large gals in leggings, tutus, and T-shirts.

Once I got to the cinema at the O2 and purchased my ticket to "Ghost Town", I had quite a long wait for the theatre to open. They were still cleaning Number 6. Various patrons kept going through a door to ask the ticket-taker if they could go in yet. No--he kept sending them back out the door to wait. When Number 6 was finally ready (about five minutes before the film's start time) the manager wouldn't let those who were asking for the first time (those currently at the ticket-taker's stand) in until he had come out and retreived those who had asked every five minutes for a half hour (yours truly).

"Ghost Town", stars British comedian Ricky Gervais (writer of The Office) as misanthropic dentist Bertram Pincus, who goes in for a colonoscopy (with use of general anesthesia). After he is discharged from the hospital, he begins to see people that other people cannot, and these folks want him to help them. In a very funny scene with a doctor played by Kristin Wiig, who doesn't let him get a word in edgewise, he learns he had a reaction to the anesthesia, and his heart stopped for several minutes.

This then, is Hollywood's take on what happens to someone when they've had a near-death experience.

Bertram Pincus is asked by the ghost of a man (Greg Kinnear) whose wife (Tea Leoni) lives in his building to get a message through about the woman's new boyfriend is a gold-digger.
Dr. Pincus does NOT have the desire or the social skills to handle this assignment. When he refuses, the ghost man gives Dr. Pincus' address to ALL the other ghosts in Mid-town Manhatten (including Naked Guy--you apparantly wear as a ghost the outfit you were wearing when you died) and many others, who all show up in his bedroom.

He strikes a deal with Greg Kinnear's character to help ONLY him, so the other ghosts will all go away. Meanwhile, Dr. Pincus develops a crush on Tea Leoni's character, despite her ownership of an enormous Great Dane dog with halitosis.

Hilarity ensues as all the various plot lines get sewn up, and the viewer eventually develops a fondness for poor Dr. Pincus as he is transformed by his work with the ghosts. In fulfilling the requests of the dead to communicate with their loved ones he regains his essential humanity, and (spoiler alert!) gets the girl.

If only life were so easy for those who've had real near-death experiences or other mystical or transcendant experiences. I know quite a few, having co-led a discussion group for the purposes of their spiritual support. Many struggled with being taken seriously by those they know. Even though he initially has trouble convincing Tea Leoni that he really IS talking to her late husband, he eventually wins her over. It seems as if all the other "message from the deceased" recipients
just hear the message and their grief or lives are transformed! Some of the people I know who've had NDE's or mystical experiences of "going to the light" have been transformed into more loving beings, but struggle with the changes in themselves and how to present their new outlook on life and eternity to those they know and love. Some are so transformed by that light that you really just want to be near them so you can catch a few "rays" yourself. Some become emotionally or mentally unhinged and are then no longer able to cope with everyday life. None of the ones I know personally have been welcomed by the scientific or medical communities (with the exception of hospices) or have had a "gets the girl and lives happily-ever-after" ending.

So, as a comedic fiction about what "might" happen in this theoretical situation, this is a funny movie. I'd give it a 3 out of 5. I'd recommend it as light entertainment to anyone. But that's all it is, light entertainment (pun intended).