In the series Extras we were given Ricky Gervais's views on celebrity, and those who chase it at the cost of their integrity. Following Ricky's career from failed musician to "tinpot" radio DJ, to his success with The Office and the new medium of Podcasting, Ghost Town couldn't be a more blatant vehicle for selling out. It makes no sense. He was building the right kind of credibility in America with his appearance on The Simpsons, and cameo in For Your Consideration. A fan base of American comedy stalwarts like Larry David and Chris Rock, and a groundswell of interest in his Podcasts and stand-up, why would he suddenly sully all he has worked so hard for to make an in-flight rom-com? A pastiche of everything from A Christmas Carol, The Sixth Sense, Fawlty Towers, Groundhog Day and early Woody Allen films. Ghost Town is neither here nor there, and largely forgettable.
The plot is certainly un-Gervais and concerns ghosts, something the atheist Ricky derides at every opportunity in his Podcasts. Missing a glaring opportunity to have Karl Pilkington appear as a blind ghost, casting is instead comprised of the most annoying actors in Hollywood today. Gervais's misanthrope works against the sappy script of redemption, as with a cast this irritating, the sardonic wit of the earlier Gervais is more likable compared to the sniveling wretch he has to become to get the girl.
Gervais was attempting to finally break into Hollywood, which he would have done anyway if he had just kept being himself. Earlier this year he ripped the hell out of Karl Pilkington's film idea (a ludicrous romantic drama which stared Rebecca De Mornay and Clive Warren (sic)) for having a nonsense plot and cast of nobodies and has-beens. After seeing Ghost Town, I know who the money should have gone to.
The plot is certainly un-Gervais and concerns ghosts, something the atheist Ricky derides at every opportunity in his Podcasts. Missing a glaring opportunity to have Karl Pilkington appear as a blind ghost, casting is instead comprised of the most annoying actors in Hollywood today. Gervais's misanthrope works against the sappy script of redemption, as with a cast this irritating, the sardonic wit of the earlier Gervais is more likable compared to the sniveling wretch he has to become to get the girl.
Gervais was attempting to finally break into Hollywood, which he would have done anyway if he had just kept being himself. Earlier this year he ripped the hell out of Karl Pilkington's film idea (a ludicrous romantic drama which stared Rebecca De Mornay and Clive Warren (sic)) for having a nonsense plot and cast of nobodies and has-beens. After seeing Ghost Town, I know who the money should have gone to.