Summer comedy release Ghost Town might feature the dead, but it is a lesson for the living.
Ghost Town stars Ricky Gervais, known for his hilarious roles as conceited boss David Brent in The Office and as actor-wannabe cum comedy writer Andy Millman in Extras. This is Gervais' first lead role in a Hollywood film and once again his on-screen character is merely a slight variation of himself.
Gervais plays Bertram Pincus, a dentist who is thoughtless, rude, self-obsessed and socially awkward to the extreme. The twist comes when Pincus unexpectedly acquires the ability to communicate with ghosts after he dies for seven minutes during a colonoscopy.
Initially Pincus thinks the anesthetic is causing hallucinations so he denies the ghosts' presence. After accepting the reality of what he is now seeing, Pincus does everything he can to avoid the ghosts who are currently enduring 'limbo' on earth. Desperate for his help he grudgingly agrees to assist one ghost, Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), who recently died from being hit by a bus.
Although the film contains ghosts it in no way commends the occult. The ghosts that appear, in particular Frank, are indeed essential to the plot for the redemption of Pincus.
Frank is a smooth talking, Blackberry-using philanderer. Moments before his death Frank was organising the purchase of a 'love-nest' for his new girlfriend. Now dead but still trapped on earth, he is convinced he needs Pincus to break up the relationship between his widow Gwen (Téa Leoni) and her new fiancé Richard - who, as a human rights lawyer, is far nicer than Pincus and Frank combined - in order to depart from this world.
However, despite a series of amusing scenes where Pincus does nothing but give Gwen every reason to hate him, Pincus soon reveals a charm and humour that begins to win Gwen over, leading her to question her relationship with Richard.
Frank and Pincus ultimately succeed in causing Gwen to break up with Richard but, oddly enough, Frank doesn't depart. To add to the comedic chaos, Pincus falls in love with Gwen. Frank's resulting jealousy leads him to use dirty tricks from the grave to ruin any chance Pincus might have with Gwen.
It is only after repeated pestering from a number of ghosts and his second 'near-death' experience that Pincus realises perhaps he ought to use his unique gifts to assist both the ghosts and their grieving loved-ones in finding closure.
It must be said that when these ghosts are freed from walking the earth, it is not made clear where they go. The bright shimmering light and subsequent disappearance suggest they leave for some Heavenly place of rest, but there is no discussion or even reference to Heaven, Hell or judgement.
Despite the presence of ghosts, Ghost Town is not a film about the dead. It's a film about the living. It is about one man being willing to use his abilities ('gifts' even) to help others. Although, Pincus goes through many trials before coming to the realisation it is his personal experience of overcoming death that finally motivates Pincus to change his life and assist others.
Everyday Christians live as people who have escaped the power of death. We live as resurrected people. The Bible shows that being a Christian has enormous implications not just for our eternity but also for how we live now. We have come to trust in the one who ultimately defeated death for all time, Jesus Christ, and now with the help of the Holy Spirit we have the intrinsic ability to live lives that give glory to God.
As Paul writes to Christians in Romans 6:13:
"Offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. Or as the old saying goes "Only one life, ‘twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ, will last!"
