OVER HER DEAD BODY (2008)

OVER HER DEAD BODY
*½
Rating: PG-13
Length: 95 minutes
Director: Jeff Lowell
Writer: Jeff Lowell (John Tucker Must Die)
Starring: Paul Rudd, Eva Longoria Parker, Lake Bell, Jason Biggs, Lindsay Sloane, Stephen Root, Jeff Lowell

For a movie about a dead lady haunting her (former) fiancée’s new love interest, “Over Her Dead Body” is about as lifeless as she is. If you ever had any doubts on why Eva Longoria was usually the sole “Desperate Housewife” snubbed at the Emmys, her “acting” here should clear that up. I can’t recall a romantic-comedy that I’ve seen that has had such little chemistry between it’s stars. Longoria’s character and her fiancée (Paul Rudd- Why Paul? Why???) seem like they wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation about the weather- let alone find enough common ground to agree to get married. Longoria stars as Kate, a bridezilla who is killed on her wedding day by an ice sculpture of an angel. She’s too bitchy to listen to her guardian angel’s explanation of what to do to get in to heaven, so she is stuck in Patrick Swayze limbo. Meanwhile, fiancée Henry (Rudd) is too depressed to smile or leave his apartment. His sister (Lindsay Sloane) pays a psychic, Ashley (Lake Bell), to pretend to talk to Kate’s ghost to get approval for Henry to move on. Henry is skeptical, but he and Ashley start to hit it off. Then Kate’s ghost actually does appear to Ashley (uh-oh!!!)- and she isn’t too pleased. “Ghost” it’s anything but. Not only is Longoria terrible, but everyone else is too. Rudd is definitely here for a paycheck and Bell is better suited for a sitcom, not a feature length movie. Don’t worry, just to make things extra annoying, Jason Biggs (American Pie) co-stars as Ashley’s “gay” best friend (there’s a really forced and unbelievable twist to that subplot). Director Jeff Lowell got his start writing for sitcoms (“Just Shoot Me”, “Spin City”, “Drew Carey”) and his first movie script was the pretty dreadful “John Tucker Must Die”. His writing and directing style is straight out of the sitcom world. No one acts like they would if it were real life. Granted the plot is pretty incredulous, but come on! When Ashley first sees Kate’s ghost, she’s about as surprised as if she found some change in her washing machine. If you want to see a movie that deals with a similar situation and does it much, much better- I suggest 1991’s “Truly, Madly, Deeply”. Guys, if your girlfriend/wife or whatever has told you she wants to see this, put that one in your Netflix queue instead. Trust me, you’ll both be much better off.

Download Soundtrack MP3s:
Matt White - Love
All American Rejects- Move Along

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