Ghost Town Move...The Unfinished Business on Earth

Only a life lived for others is worth living

- Albert Einstein

Plot

A misanthropic dentist, Bertram Pincus, (Ricky Gervais) gains the ability to communicate with ghosts after a near death experience in which he dies for approximately seven minutes during a colonoscopy and is then miraculously revived. Ghosts begin to pester him, particularly Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear) who wants him to break up the impending marriage of his widow Gwen (Téa Leoni). This proves rather hard, as Bertram has snubbed Gwen on many an occasion, including when he closes the elevator on her and gets her in trouble with the super. However, since he displays his dental expertise to her one day in the elevator, she recruits him to look at a mummy's teeth, and Pincus redeems himself in Gwen's eyes when he identifies the cause of the Pharaoh's death. She invites him to dinner along with her fiancée Richard (Billy Campbell), whom Frank says is after her money but seems to Pincus like a nice man, as he is a human rights lawyer. Pincus gets to know Gwen more and finds himself falling in love with her. He mystifies her when, out for drinks one day, he knows information about Frank, and Gwen reveals to them both that she had found out Frank had been cheating on her. Pincus ends up inadvertently breaking off her engagement to Richard, information he got out of Richard by drugging him with laughing gas. After that, Pincus vows never to interfere in her life again.

Frank doesn't understand why he is still on earth if he was supposed to break up Richard and Gwen. Gwen, not being engaged to Richard any longer, says yes to a proposal that would send her to the Valley of Kings for six months. As a going away present, Pincus gets her a new key chain, which she had before mentioned she desperately needed. But when he mistakenly reveals more information about Frank only Gwen knows, she demands the truth, and Pincus tells her the whole story with ghosts. Gwen doesn't believe him and demands to know what Frank's worst nightmare was. Frank tells Pincus a fake nightmare, and Gwen, thinking Pincus is toying with her, walks away. Frank tells Pincus he doesn't want Gwen to be with another selfish person.

Back at the office, Pincus asks a fellow dentist (Aasif Mandvi) for medication that will help him forget Gwen. Pincus decides that he will help the ghosts. He helps almost all of them, and finds out that one of the ghosts is an especially annoying patient's deceased husband.

While helping these ghosts, Pincus discovers that the reason why Frank can't leave is that Gwen hasn't let go of him. He rushes to the exhibition at the Met, only for Gwen to blow him off. She asks him to ask Frank why she wasn't enough for him, and Frank says he's sorry, which Pincus tells Gwen. Gwen is incredulous that after his infidelity, all Frank would have to say was 'sorry' and thinks that Pincus is making it all up. He rushes after her and while trying to persuade her to believe him, gets hit by a bus. Pincus, now a ghost, watches with Frank. Gwen is crying over Pincus, then Richard comes and tries to revive him. Seeing how distraught Gwen is, Frank gives him 'some advice' in case he is resuscitated. After talking to Pincus, Frank is then finally allowed to leave.

Pincus wakes up alive in the hospital. He recovers and goes back to work and meets Gwen, who needs dental work. Pincus tells Gwen the real nightmare, which was advice Frank told him, and then assures her 'he found his way home.' The movie ends with Gwen saying 'it hurts when I smile,' to which Pincus replies 'I can fix that for you.'

I just like the message underlying this movie...I finished it watching early last night when I almost closed the Windows Media Player and turn off the monitor screen when one of my best buddies Jonas told me that the movie was good and my other boardmates agreed that it has a a great sense...So I continued the flick though I find my self yawning at times (pagod din ako galing sa meeting ng Club Tikod)...

Then as the story progressed on, hmmmm I am kinda hooked to the movie so I gained the guts to finish it...

I was touched by the quotation by Einstein which states Only a life lived for others is worth living...It's just then I realized that this life of mine is somehow worth living as I don't live this life for my self alone but with my own little ways, I have shared this piece of my life to my students at KLRC and Club Tikod Computer Tutorials...

This message should make us more optimistic to live our life in a way that in the end of the day, we could say "the days is done" and we've nothing to regret on things we have failed to accomplish! Carpi diem everyone!