As horrible as the idea of yet another guy-is-haunted-by-dead-people comedy is, the mere fact that Ricky Gervais stars in Ghost Town offers some promise. Even though you know that at some point he’ll probably be forced to mug hysterically and shout, “How come no one else can see you?!” At least it’s Gervais doing the mugging.

But the pleasant shock is that Ghost Town isn’t just not terrible, it’s actually pretty good for the most part. Whether this sort of lame, overused concept — no matter how well executed — is a smart career move for Gervais is a different question entirely. As creator and star of British television’s brilliant The Office and Extras, fans might have expected something a little more groundbreaking. But perhaps easing his way into American movies with a softball was the point.

In Ghost Town, Gervais plays Dr. Bertram Pincus, a dentist who loathes people. After briefly dying on the table during a colonoscopy, Pincus finds he’s able to see, hear and converse with ghosts, who all have reasons why they haven’t passed on to the next plane, and want Pincus to help. Unsurprisingly, he finds that his carefully constructed techniques for avoiding conversation don’t work very well with people who aren’t constrained by physical space.

Pincus is pestered most intently by the recently deceased Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), who wants Pincus to break up the relationship between Frank’s still-living wife, Gwen (Téa Leoni), and her fiance, Richard (Billy Campbell). Gwen conveniently lives in Pincus’s building, although her interactions with him have so far been typically abrasive.

While Gervais seems like an odd choice to star in a romantic comedy, he brings a warm, unusually smart presence to what’s a fairly predictable story. In order to break up Gwen and Richard, he has to get to know Gwen. Naturally, he starts to like her, and then to warm up a little. Will he fall in love with her? Will she return his feelings by film’s end? Will Frank be annoyed by this? Not to spoil the movie for you, but … well, duh.

While watching Ghost Town, it may actually seem like it’s far, far better movie than it is, because the actors are so good and because most modern romantic comedies are brain-dead pieces of insulting dreck about 20-something cretins. Writer-director David Koepp instead seems to have looked to the Golden Age rom-com as his guide — the type that starred grown-ups like Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell — to craft a pleasant, funny little film about adults, and he does it without resorting to bodily-function humor, humiliating the main character, or having Téa Leoni fall down a flight of stairs. For that, Mr. Koepp, you have our gratitude.

Dreamworks’ DVD release is a solid, clean, bright transfer presented in the film’s original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, with equally pleasant Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio with optional English, French or Spanish subtitles. Extras include a funny, fairly straightforward commentary track with Koepp and Gervais, a 21-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, a short piece on the visual effects, and the obligatory gag reel with actors screwing up their lines and laughing.

Dawn Taylor finds herself shuddering with dread when the words “romantic comedy” and “Kate Hudson” are used in the same sentence.

Tags: dvd, ghost town, greg kinnear, ricky gervais, tea leoni