Ghost Town

I'm growing to appreciate Ricky Gervais more and more. My friend Lindsay, who studies modern masculinity, said I MUST watch Extras, and I did (the first season), and indeed, it was great. I mention Lindsay's field because he inadvertently got me thinking about Gervais as a new model of masculinity, and you know, I really think he's a great example of a wonderful, likeable guy who's sweet and sensitive without being emasculated.

ANYWAYS. It took about 40 minutes for me to get into Ghost Town. The whole plot of the protagonist being able to see dead people, who prove to be a nagging, obnoxious bunch, didn't really do much for me. But once he starts talking to Tea Leoni*, it gets great. Totally charming. The interactions between them are wonderful, and right as the movie is winning you over with them, it also moves into a more serious note, thinking about the regrets of the dead for the wrongs they did in life.

Unfortunately, about half an hour later, it peters out again. Not that it totally crashes, but it loses a lot of steam and sort of rolls into a finish. It handles the cliches its plot is freighted with and the conversion in the character gracefully enough, but it's still just not that great of a movie. Nonetheless, worth watching, if you're willing to set the bar low, just for the pleasure of the sweet romance between Gervais and Leoni.

*You know who Tea Leoni reminds me of? Kim Dickens, from Zero Effect. They both have that unbelievably sexy intensity combined with an easy laugh and a kind of toughness tempered by a certain vulnerability. So hot.