Thank you, Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings, for once again hosting R.I.P!

Ghost Town with Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni and Greg Kinnear, directed by David Koepp.

I was visiting my daughter and son-in-law in Seattle, and we decided to watch a scifi movie. Of all things, our search netted Ghost Town. (Such is the difficulty with the ghost genre—there is no ghost genre; you find ghosts when you least expect them.) Anyhow, ghost aficionado that I am, I jumped at the chance to view this movie.

I was not disappointed.

Following a routine medical procedure, curmudgeonly dentist Bertram Pincus wakes up with a disconcerting ability to see dead people, the most annoying of whom demands Bertram’s help in rescuing his widowed wife from a loveless love affair. Dr. Pincus is a most reluctant accomplice, not because he’s afraid so much as because he dislikes people, living or dead. This ghost gives Dr. Pincus an offer he cannot refuse; namely, said ghost will do away with all the other tiresome ghosts.

After meeting Gwen, the wife in question, Dr. Pincus decides the best way to extricate Gwen from her fiance’s clutches is to woo her himself. One small problem—the aforementioned curmudgeonliness hinders romance. Ah, but it fosters humor.

Can a misanthrope find true love? You’ll have to watch to find out.

For me, Ghost Town is a delight. I laughed out loud through 80% of the movie. The other 20% of the time? I donned the dopey smile of an incurable romantic.