The 2008 film Ghost Town and the 1960 film The Apartment are both films about lonely and depressed people. The two films are like opposite sides of the brain that connect as a unit. Both films reach the same goal, but in opposite ways. Ghost Town and The Apartment act just as a multiplication problem would by reaching the same answer regardless of what position they’re in.
Ghost Town, directed by David Koepp, is about a lonely and depressed dentist named Bertram Binkus (Ricky Gervais) who takes his discontent with life out on the world. A woman comes into his life (Tea Leoni) and could possibly change his life for the better.The supernatural comes into play, hence the title Ghost Town but giving away any more details would ruin the movie-watching experience.
The Apartment is a film about an insurance statistician C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) who lets the executives at the company he works for use his apartment for their extramarital affairs with hopes of becoming an executive himself. Baxter falls in love with a woman (Shirley MacLaine), and the plot thickens from there.
Ghost Town is more in the vein of a Billy Wilder film like The Apartment. Both films are categorized as romantic comedies, but both films are also dramas, or rather comedy-dramas. As far as comedy goes, both films have light-hearted humor, but the male leads are from two very different comedic breeds. Gervais’ style of comedy is dry and distinctly British always delivered deadpan, while Lemmon’s comedy is warm-hearted humor usually always delivered with a smile, or at least a smirk.If anyone resembles Lemmon, it’s the female lead Leoni. Leoni is like a female Lemmon because she exudes warmth whether being laugh-out-loud funny or shedding convincing tears.
Both Binkus and Baxter have awakenings on life, but from opposite sides of the spectrum. Binkus discovers that being mean to people will not make him happy or a more complete person and Baxter discovers that letting people use him will not make him happy or a complete person. Discovering the cruelties of people and discovering the goodness of people are both essential ingredients within in the recipe for happiness. Those are two components that help create a balance. Both films show that one cannot be a truly whole person without both of those components. The difference between Gervais and Lemmon is that Gervais is not aspiring towards anything. Gervais is an example that money isn’t the answer to happiness. Lemmon is aspiring towards something. He’s a likeable guy and a people-pleaser who people use for their own purposes. Lemmon doesn’t become depressed until after The Apartment gets settled.
Leoni proves her versatility as an actress. She has the ability to be a tragic drama queen, while also able to perform Lucille Ball-worthy slapstick as she proved on her 1990s television sitcom, “The Naked Truth” and in the big-screen comedy remake, Fun with Dick and Jane alongside Jim Carrey. The film has its jokes, but it is essentially a drama and a character study told with some humor. A drama or character study that uses a healthy dose of humor is unheard of in today’s film industry. For the most part, dramas are always extremely self-serious without a hint of lightness, and the comedies are always goof fests. It’s either one extreme or the other, there’s no middle ground. Leoni is one of the tools that causes Gervais’ awakening on life. In a way, Leoni plays the film’s heroine. By treating Gervais kindly like a human being, Leoni helped him realize the good in people.
Shirley MacLaine adds a different female presence to The Apartment. MacLaine plays more of a passive role. The only way she contributes to Lemmon’s awakening is by simply existing being the cute and friendly elevator operator. If anything, MacLaine acts as a victim for the majority of The Apartment. Leoni plays more of an active role in her male character’s awakening. Leoni also plays a comedic and dramatic role, while MacLaine mostly plays her role straight-faced. Usually MacLaine plays sardonically funny roles, but she plays her role in The Apartment as a waif, a damsel in distress. The situation of MacLaine’s character is closer to Gervais’ situation. She’s depressed, but aspires to be happy and fools herself into thinking a married man is going to leave his wife for her.
Both Lemmon and Gervais go through processes of better understanding humanity. Gervais learns that assuming the worst in people won’t make him a full and happy person. Lemmon learns that being nice and pleasing to the point of being a pushover will not make him a happy person.
Ghost Town, directed by David Koepp, is about a lonely and depressed dentist named Bertram Binkus (Ricky Gervais) who takes his discontent with life out on the world. A woman comes into his life (Tea Leoni) and could possibly change his life for the better.The supernatural comes into play, hence the title Ghost Town but giving away any more details would ruin the movie-watching experience.
The Apartment is a film about an insurance statistician C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) who lets the executives at the company he works for use his apartment for their extramarital affairs with hopes of becoming an executive himself. Baxter falls in love with a woman (Shirley MacLaine), and the plot thickens from there.
Ghost Town is more in the vein of a Billy Wilder film like The Apartment. Both films are categorized as romantic comedies, but both films are also dramas, or rather comedy-dramas. As far as comedy goes, both films have light-hearted humor, but the male leads are from two very different comedic breeds. Gervais’ style of comedy is dry and distinctly British always delivered deadpan, while Lemmon’s comedy is warm-hearted humor usually always delivered with a smile, or at least a smirk.If anyone resembles Lemmon, it’s the female lead Leoni. Leoni is like a female Lemmon because she exudes warmth whether being laugh-out-loud funny or shedding convincing tears.
Both Binkus and Baxter have awakenings on life, but from opposite sides of the spectrum. Binkus discovers that being mean to people will not make him happy or a more complete person and Baxter discovers that letting people use him will not make him happy or a complete person. Discovering the cruelties of people and discovering the goodness of people are both essential ingredients within in the recipe for happiness. Those are two components that help create a balance. Both films show that one cannot be a truly whole person without both of those components. The difference between Gervais and Lemmon is that Gervais is not aspiring towards anything. Gervais is an example that money isn’t the answer to happiness. Lemmon is aspiring towards something. He’s a likeable guy and a people-pleaser who people use for their own purposes. Lemmon doesn’t become depressed until after The Apartment gets settled.
Leoni proves her versatility as an actress. She has the ability to be a tragic drama queen, while also able to perform Lucille Ball-worthy slapstick as she proved on her 1990s television sitcom, “The Naked Truth” and in the big-screen comedy remake, Fun with Dick and Jane alongside Jim Carrey. The film has its jokes, but it is essentially a drama and a character study told with some humor. A drama or character study that uses a healthy dose of humor is unheard of in today’s film industry. For the most part, dramas are always extremely self-serious without a hint of lightness, and the comedies are always goof fests. It’s either one extreme or the other, there’s no middle ground. Leoni is one of the tools that causes Gervais’ awakening on life. In a way, Leoni plays the film’s heroine. By treating Gervais kindly like a human being, Leoni helped him realize the good in people.
Shirley MacLaine adds a different female presence to The Apartment. MacLaine plays more of a passive role. The only way she contributes to Lemmon’s awakening is by simply existing being the cute and friendly elevator operator. If anything, MacLaine acts as a victim for the majority of The Apartment. Leoni plays more of an active role in her male character’s awakening. Leoni also plays a comedic and dramatic role, while MacLaine mostly plays her role straight-faced. Usually MacLaine plays sardonically funny roles, but she plays her role in The Apartment as a waif, a damsel in distress. The situation of MacLaine’s character is closer to Gervais’ situation. She’s depressed, but aspires to be happy and fools herself into thinking a married man is going to leave his wife for her.
Both Lemmon and Gervais go through processes of better understanding humanity. Gervais learns that assuming the worst in people won’t make him a full and happy person. Lemmon learns that being nice and pleasing to the point of being a pushover will not make him a happy person.
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