British TV's comic icons do not have a resplendent track record in crossing over to the movie format, whether here or Stateside (witness as a recent case in point Simon Pegg in Run Fatboy Run, if you can stomach it). So this really comes as a pleasant surprise. Wisely, Ricky Gervais's Brent persona has been tinkered with just enough to leave the misanthropy and neediness while removing the weaselly attributes and the lack of self-awareness.Gervais is an anti-social dentist in Manhattan who is horrified to discover one day that he can see the dead, and that they all want him to do them a favour. Of course he'll cave in under all the humanity and lose his curmudgeonly ways in the end, as we're firmly in romcom land from the outset, but there are enough witty touches along the way to make the journey to the inevitable agreeable enough.
6/10
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