"Ghost Town": Gervais is mordant life of the party

If we're stuck wandering around in the afterlife in what we wore at the moment of death, I'm ditching the Underoos promptly.

None of the spirits haunting — make that harassing — Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) knew this or prepared. One's naked. Another in a tuxedo (Greg Kinnear) wants Pincus to stop his widow (Téa Leoni) from marrying a handsome jerk.

Maybe M. Night Shyamalan is due some cash, because "Ghost Town" is essentially "The Sixth Sense" with the hilarious British misanthrope from the original version of "The Office" and "Extras," whose catchphrase would be "I see dead people, and I wish I could serve them all with restraining orders."

Continually put-upon, sarcastic and even a bit lovable, Gervais is the reason to see this otherwise vanilla light-supernatural-romantic-comedy. He plays a New York dentist (and it's even somehow funny to see him waddling around in the white smock) who dies for a few minutes during a routine colonoscopy — two words that really shouldn't be paired. After an explanation from the bumbling doctor ("Saturday Night Live's" Kristen Wiig), Pincus finds himself besieged with the dead that only he can see, and who all want him to help with their unfinished business.

Chief among them is Frank (Kinnear), a Clintonesque philanderer who won't leave Pincus alone until he helps with his quirky Egyptologist wife, Gwen, and also makes her understand that despite his behavior, he loved her. Along the way — and you don't need to be psychic to see this coming — Pincus begins to fall for her and become more of a human.

"Ghost Town is an odd departure for director and co-writer David Koepp, known mainly for writing "Spider-Man," "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," and other action-fantasy blockbusters. He has a deft, clean touch with the lighter material, despite the overwhelming sense that you've seen it in different incarnations. There's even a touch of welcome complexity in the emotions surrounding Frank's behavior. (I wonder if audiences in, say, France would find Frank the hero and not Pincus. I do not see what zee problem ees!)

Fans of Gervais' awkward, caustic brand of humor should be pleased to see him in a big Hollywood movie that'll make him more of a household name. People just introduced to him here will have unfinished business until they check out the "The Office" and "Extras."

Mark Rahner: 206-464-8259

or mrahner@seattletimes.com