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* ''Film/{{Ghost Town|1988}}'', a 1988 American Western horror film.
* ''Film/{{Ghost Town|2008}}'', a 2008 American supernatural comedy.
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[[quoteright:349:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/51fx0fai_wl.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:349:He sees dead people... and they annoy him.]]
->''"Dr. Pincus, at some point in your life, you're gonna have to stop and ask yourself the ultimate question: 'This business of being such a fucking prick...what is it really getting me?'"''
A 2008 supernatural comedy by writer/directer Creator/DavidKoepp and starring Creator/RickyGervais.
After suffering a near death experience during routine surgery, where he was technically dead for 7 minutes (a bit less), misanthropic dentist Bertram Pincus (Gervais) begins seeing the ghosts of people who died with unfinished business. When the ghosts realize that Pincus can see them, they begin following him around, asking for his help in crossing over. He, of course, does his best to ignore them all, but one ghost in particular finally gets his attention: Frank (Creator/GregKinnear), who believes that if he can get Pincus to prevent his widow, Gwen (Creator/TeaLeoni) from marrying a new guy that is completely wrong for her, he can finally cross over.
----
!!The film contains examples of the following Tropes:
* BackFromTheDead: Twice, actually. The first time, Pincus had been clinically dead for a few minutes during his surgery at the start of the film. The second time, he is hit by a bus much like Frank at the start of the film, and is thankfully revived before he can be a ghost for good.
* BaitAndSwitch: At first, the prologue implies Frank will die via [[MakesSenseInContext falling air conditioner]]. Instead, it narrowly misses him and he marvels about how he survived! ...[[YankTheDogsChain Except]], he gets hit by a truck because he was standing in the middle of the road.
* BigApplesauce
* BigFriendlyDog: Gwen's Great Dane. Pincus remarks, "I like your horse!"
* CheatedDeathDiedAnyway: Frank narrowly avoids getting crushed by a falling air conditioner, only to then get hit by a bus.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: While giving his speech about the revelation he's had to Gwen, Pincus mentions the fact that when he was embalmed, the mummy Pepi's penis was put in a big jar, and rhetorically asks why the people who embalmed him would do that, meaning to get across that everything he was buried with was useless. Gwen says that his penis was put in a big jar because it was so large that it wouldn't have fit in a small jar.
* DepravedDentist: While certainly not sadistic or even malicious, Pincus wasn't winning any awards for his misanthropy and uncaring bedside manner at the start of the movie.
* DiceRollDeath: Double-subverted. At the beginning, Frank dodges out of the way of a falling air conditioner... by unknowingly jumping into the street, where he promptly gets hit by a bus. See also TakeAMomentToCatchYourDeath, below.
* HeelRealization: Frank spends almost the entire movie insisting that he wasn't that bad of a husband to Gwen, even though he cheated, and that her new fiancee, who is selfless and polite, must secretly be some kind of asshole. It's when Gwen pleadingly asks aloud why she wasn't enough for Frank that he went and cheated on her that he sees how badly he hurt her, and says that she wasn't the one who wasn't enough.
* HilariousOuttakes: One involves ''bouncing dog shit.''
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: The reason that Frank finally gets to leave.
* InsistentTerminology: Pincus was dead for ''a bit less'' than seven minutes.
* JacobMarleyApparel: The ghosts can't change their clothes from what they died in. Or put on any clothes if they died naked.
* JerkAss: Pincus originally embodies this trope, before showing his true colors as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn:
** Pincus is being chased by a bunch of ghosts, accompanied by lively chase music; then they run past the street violinist who is providing it.
** Later in the movie, he's coming clean to another character about the whole I See Dead People thing and the camera pans away to reveal that the drum music in the BGM is being played by a guy on a nearby park bench.
* LoveTriangle: A somewhat strange example, considering one of the three is dead. Also technically a "love quadrangle" if you count Gwen's new guy.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: The naked ghost.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer for this film makes the other "ghosts" into much more of the plot than they actually are. Aside from Frank of course, they're just there to mark Pincus's CharacterDevelopment.
* NoodleIncident: What ''was'' the deal with the naked guy?
* PrecisionFStrike: "Did you ever think about not being ''such a fucking prick'' all the time?"
* RomanticComedy: Subverted. For a time, the movie progresses like a quirky but typical romantic comedy - Pincus meets Gwen while just trying to deal with her ex-husband, but falls in love with her, starts a relationship based on a lie and has to deal with her perfect boyfriend, etc. However, after the point where he has to reveal the truth the movie suddenly takes a hard right into being about ''Pincus'' becoming a better person rather than their relationship, with his treatment of Gwen being one consequence of that. In the end the movie leaves it entirely up in the air whether Pincus and Gwen get together or not.
* RomanticFalseLead: Played with. Gwen's new guy is an example of over the top perfection. Frank insists that he must be secretly evil, but it turns out to really be his jealousy and insecurity talking. After falling for her Pincus decides she doesn't really love him, and while they do break up we last see him [[spoiler: while saving Pincus' life]] he's attempting to reconcile with her. The last scenes don't confirm one way or another whether he and Gwen worked things out.
* RunningGag: Every time someone walks through a ghost, they sneeze. This gets extreme when Pincus must traverse an entire room full of ghosts, trying to get away from them all.
* SimSimSalabim: Pincus seems to follow this mentality when asking fellow dentist Dr. Prashar for advice:
-->'''Pincus:''' Dr. Prashar - you're from a...scary country, right?
-->[pause]
-->'''Dr. Prashar:''' I'm from India...
-->'''Pincus:''' But, you're not...Christian, like us?
-->[pause]
-->'''Dr. Prashar:''' I'm a Hindu...
-->'''Pincus:''' Yeah. So, um, how would you...''extract information from a hostile?''
-->'''Dr. Prashar:''' Well... as a... Hindu person... I would just... ask him... politely...
* TakeAMomentToCatchYourDeath: What happened to Frank. He narrowly misses getting his skull caved in by a falling air conditioner. While he's marveling about this, he's hit by a bus.
* UndignifiedDeath: Pincus acquired his ability to see the dead due to a near-death experience... during a colonoscopy.
* UnfinishedBusiness: Why Pincus is seeing all these ghosts. They all have some Unfinished Business that they needed to take care of--something that they didn't do or say. After Pincus helps them, they disappear. He eventually figures out that it typically has less to do with the ghost themselves and more with the people still living who won't let them go.
----
[[caption-width-right:349:He sees dead people... and they annoy him.]]
->''"Dr. Pincus, at some point in your life, you're gonna have to stop and ask yourself the ultimate question: 'This business of being such a fucking prick...what is it really getting me?'"''
A 2008 supernatural comedy by writer/directer Creator/DavidKoepp and starring Creator/RickyGervais.
After suffering a near death experience during routine surgery, where he was technically dead for 7 minutes (a bit less), misanthropic dentist Bertram Pincus (Gervais) begins seeing the ghosts of people who died with unfinished business. When the ghosts realize that Pincus can see them, they begin following him around, asking for his help in crossing over. He, of course, does his best to ignore them all, but one ghost in particular finally gets his attention: Frank (Creator/GregKinnear), who believes that if he can get Pincus to prevent his widow, Gwen (Creator/TeaLeoni) from marrying a new guy that is completely wrong for her, he can finally cross over.
----
!!The film contains examples of the following Tropes:
* BackFromTheDead: Twice, actually. The first time, Pincus had been clinically dead for a few minutes during his surgery at the start of the film. The second time, he is hit by a bus much like Frank at the start of the film, and is thankfully revived before he can be a ghost for good.
* BaitAndSwitch: At first, the prologue implies Frank will die via [[MakesSenseInContext falling air conditioner]]. Instead, it narrowly misses him and he marvels about how he survived! ...[[YankTheDogsChain Except]], he gets hit by a truck because he was standing in the middle of the road.
* BigApplesauce
* BigFriendlyDog: Gwen's Great Dane. Pincus remarks, "I like your horse!"
* CheatedDeathDiedAnyway: Frank narrowly avoids getting crushed by a falling air conditioner, only to then get hit by a bus.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: While giving his speech about the revelation he's had to Gwen, Pincus mentions the fact that when he was embalmed, the mummy Pepi's penis was put in a big jar, and rhetorically asks why the people who embalmed him would do that, meaning to get across that everything he was buried with was useless. Gwen says that his penis was put in a big jar because it was so large that it wouldn't have fit in a small jar.
* DepravedDentist: While certainly not sadistic or even malicious, Pincus wasn't winning any awards for his misanthropy and uncaring bedside manner at the start of the movie.
* DiceRollDeath: Double-subverted. At the beginning, Frank dodges out of the way of a falling air conditioner... by unknowingly jumping into the street, where he promptly gets hit by a bus. See also TakeAMomentToCatchYourDeath, below.
* HeelRealization: Frank spends almost the entire movie insisting that he wasn't that bad of a husband to Gwen, even though he cheated, and that her new fiancee, who is selfless and polite, must secretly be some kind of asshole. It's when Gwen pleadingly asks aloud why she wasn't enough for Frank that he went and cheated on her that he sees how badly he hurt her, and says that she wasn't the one who wasn't enough.
* HilariousOuttakes: One involves ''bouncing dog shit.''
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: The reason that Frank finally gets to leave.
* InsistentTerminology: Pincus was dead for ''a bit less'' than seven minutes.
* JacobMarleyApparel: The ghosts can't change their clothes from what they died in. Or put on any clothes if they died naked.
* JerkAss: Pincus originally embodies this trope, before showing his true colors as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn:
** Pincus is being chased by a bunch of ghosts, accompanied by lively chase music; then they run past the street violinist who is providing it.
** Later in the movie, he's coming clean to another character about the whole I See Dead People thing and the camera pans away to reveal that the drum music in the BGM is being played by a guy on a nearby park bench.
* LoveTriangle: A somewhat strange example, considering one of the three is dead. Also technically a "love quadrangle" if you count Gwen's new guy.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: The naked ghost.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer for this film makes the other "ghosts" into much more of the plot than they actually are. Aside from Frank of course, they're just there to mark Pincus's CharacterDevelopment.
* NoodleIncident: What ''was'' the deal with the naked guy?
* PrecisionFStrike: "Did you ever think about not being ''such a fucking prick'' all the time?"
* RomanticComedy: Subverted. For a time, the movie progresses like a quirky but typical romantic comedy - Pincus meets Gwen while just trying to deal with her ex-husband, but falls in love with her, starts a relationship based on a lie and has to deal with her perfect boyfriend, etc. However, after the point where he has to reveal the truth the movie suddenly takes a hard right into being about ''Pincus'' becoming a better person rather than their relationship, with his treatment of Gwen being one consequence of that. In the end the movie leaves it entirely up in the air whether Pincus and Gwen get together or not.
* RomanticFalseLead: Played with. Gwen's new guy is an example of over the top perfection. Frank insists that he must be secretly evil, but it turns out to really be his jealousy and insecurity talking. After falling for her Pincus decides she doesn't really love him, and while they do break up we last see him [[spoiler: while saving Pincus' life]] he's attempting to reconcile with her. The last scenes don't confirm one way or another whether he and Gwen worked things out.
* RunningGag: Every time someone walks through a ghost, they sneeze. This gets extreme when Pincus must traverse an entire room full of ghosts, trying to get away from them all.
* SimSimSalabim: Pincus seems to follow this mentality when asking fellow dentist Dr. Prashar for advice:
-->'''Pincus:''' Dr. Prashar - you're from a...scary country, right?
-->[pause]
-->'''Dr. Prashar:''' I'm from India...
-->'''Pincus:''' But, you're not...Christian, like us?
-->[pause]
-->'''Dr. Prashar:''' I'm a Hindu...
-->'''Pincus:''' Yeah. So, um, how would you...''extract information from a hostile?''
-->'''Dr. Prashar:''' Well... as a... Hindu person... I would just... ask him... politely...
* TakeAMomentToCatchYourDeath: What happened to Frank. He narrowly misses getting his skull caved in by a falling air conditioner. While he's marveling about this, he's hit by a bus.
* UndignifiedDeath: Pincus acquired his ability to see the dead due to a near-death experience... during a colonoscopy.
* UnfinishedBusiness: Why Pincus is seeing all these ghosts. They all have some Unfinished Business that they needed to take care of--something that they didn't do or say. After Pincus helps them, they disappear. He eventually figures out that it typically has less to do with the ghost themselves and more with the people still living who won't let them go.
----
to:
[[caption-width-right:349:He sees dead people... and they annoy him.]]
->''"Dr. Pincus, at some point in your life, you're gonna have to stop and ask yourself the ultimate question: 'This business of being such a fucking prick...what is it really getting me?'"''
A 2008 supernatural comedy by writer/directer Creator/DavidKoepp and starring Creator/RickyGervais.
After suffering a near death experience during routine surgery, where he was technically dead for 7 minutes (a bit less), misanthropic dentist Bertram Pincus (Gervais) begins seeing the ghosts of people who died with unfinished business. When the ghosts realize that Pincus can see them, they begin following him around, asking for his help in crossing over. He, of course, does his best to ignore them all, but one ghost in particular finally gets his attention: Frank (Creator/GregKinnear), who believes that if he can get Pincus to prevent his widow, Gwen (Creator/TeaLeoni) from marrying a new guy that is completely wrong for her, he can finally cross over.
----
!!The film contains examples of the following Tropes:
* BackFromTheDead: Twice, actually. The first time, Pincus had been clinically dead for a few minutes during his surgery at the start of the film. The second time, he is hit by a bus much like Frank at the start of the film, and is thankfully revived before he can be a ghost for good.
* BaitAndSwitch: At first, the prologue implies Frank will die via [[MakesSenseInContext falling air conditioner]]. Instead, it narrowly misses him and he marvels about how he survived! ...[[YankTheDogsChain Except]], he gets hit by a truck because he was standing in the middle of the road.
* BigApplesauce
* BigFriendlyDog: Gwen's Great Dane. Pincus remarks, "I like your horse!"
* CheatedDeathDiedAnyway: Frank narrowly avoids getting crushed by a falling air conditioner, only to then get hit by a bus.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: While giving his speech about the revelation he's had to Gwen, Pincus mentions the fact that when he was embalmed, the mummy Pepi's penis was put in a big jar, and rhetorically asks why the people who embalmed him would do that, meaning to get across that everything he was buried with was useless. Gwen says that his penis was put in a big jar because it was so large that it wouldn't have fit in a small jar.
* DepravedDentist: While certainly not sadistic or even malicious, Pincus wasn't winning any awards for his misanthropy and uncaring bedside manner at the start of the movie.
* DiceRollDeath: Double-subverted. At the beginning, Frank dodges out of the way of a falling air conditioner... by unknowingly jumping into the street, where he promptly gets hit by a bus. See also TakeAMomentToCatchYourDeath, below.
* HeelRealization: Frank spends almost the entire movie insisting that he wasn't that bad of a husband to Gwen, even though he cheated, and that her new fiancee, who is selfless and polite, must secretly be some kind of asshole. It's when Gwen pleadingly asks aloud why she wasn't enough for Frank that he went and cheated on her that he sees how badly he hurt her, and says that she wasn't the one who wasn't enough.
* HilariousOuttakes: One involves ''bouncing dog shit.''
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: The reason that Frank finally gets to leave.
* InsistentTerminology: Pincus was dead for ''a bit less'' than seven minutes.
* JacobMarleyApparel: The ghosts can't change their clothes from what they died in. Or put on any clothes if they died naked.
* JerkAss: Pincus originally embodies this trope, before showing his true colors as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn:
** Pincus is being chased by a bunch of ghosts, accompanied by lively chase music; then they run past the street violinist who is providing it.
** Later in the movie, he's coming clean to another character about the whole I See Dead People thing and the camera pans away to reveal that the drum music in the BGM is being played by a guy on a nearby park bench.
* LoveTriangle: A somewhat strange example, considering one of the three is dead. Also technically a "love quadrangle" if you count Gwen's new guy.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: The naked ghost.
* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailer for this film makes the other "ghosts" into much more of the plot than they actually are. Aside from Frank of course, they're just there to mark Pincus's CharacterDevelopment.
* NoodleIncident: What ''was'' the deal with the naked guy?
* PrecisionFStrike: "Did you ever think about not being ''such a fucking prick'' all the time?"
* RomanticComedy: Subverted. For a time, the movie progresses like a quirky but typical romantic comedy - Pincus meets Gwen while just trying to deal with her ex-husband, but falls in love with her, starts a relationship based on a lie and has to deal with her perfect boyfriend, etc. However, after the point where he has to reveal the truth the movie suddenly takes a hard right into being about ''Pincus'' becoming a better person rather than their relationship, with his treatment of Gwen being one consequence of that. In the end the movie leaves it entirely up in the air whether Pincus and Gwen get together or not.
* RomanticFalseLead: Played with. Gwen's new guy is an example of over the top perfection. Frank insists that he must be secretly evil, but it turns out to really be his jealousy and insecurity talking. After falling for her Pincus decides she doesn't really love him, and while they do break up we last see him [[spoiler: while saving Pincus' life]] he's attempting to reconcile with her. The last scenes don't confirm one way or another whether he and Gwen worked things out.
* RunningGag: Every time someone walks through a ghost, they sneeze. This gets extreme when Pincus must traverse an entire room full of ghosts, trying to get away from them all.
* SimSimSalabim: Pincus seems to follow this mentality when asking fellow dentist Dr. Prashar for advice:
-->'''Pincus:''' Dr. Prashar - you're from a...scary country, right?
-->[pause]
-->'''Dr. Prashar:''' I'm from India...
-->'''Pincus:''' But, you're not...Christian, like us?
-->[pause]
-->'''Dr. Prashar:''' I'm a Hindu...
-->'''Pincus:''' Yeah. So, um, how would you...''extract information from a hostile?''
-->'''Dr. Prashar:''' Well... as a... Hindu person... I would just... ask him... politely...
* TakeAMomentToCatchYourDeath: What happened to Frank. He narrowly misses getting his skull caved in by a falling air conditioner. While he's marveling about this, he's hit by a bus.
* UndignifiedDeath: Pincus acquired his ability to see the dead due to a near-death experience... during a colonoscopy.
* UnfinishedBusiness: Why Pincus is seeing all these ghosts. They all have some Unfinished Business that they needed to take care of--something that they didn't do or say. After Pincus helps them, they disappear. He eventually figures out that it typically has less to do with the ghost themselves and more with the people still living who won't let them go.
----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
No longer a trope.
Deleted line(s) 50 (click to see context) :
* YourCheatingHeart: Frank was cheating on Gwen while he was alive, and just a minute before he died he had a conversation with her on the phone, assuring her that the hotel room he booked in secret was a nice surprise for her anniversary and ''not'' for any illicit affair. Once he dies, he figures that his UnfinishedBusiness is to keep Gwen from re-marrying with a man he thinks is no good for her, but it turns out that it was Gwen's hurt over the fact that he was cheating on her that tethered him to the world of the living. She pleadingly asks Pincus why she wasn't good enough for Frank, and [[HeelRealization he realizes that it wasn't her who wasn't enough.]]
