Over Her Dead Body
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Directed by: Jeff Lowell
Starring:
Eva Longoria Parker - Kate
Paul Rudd - Henry
Lake Bell - Ashley
Jason Biggs - Dan
Lindsay Sloane - Chloe
It's a sad day when you realize not only that a film is a mish-mash of other romantic comedies, but that they're not even good romantic comedies, and that you can actually recognize those rom-coms. Over Her Dead Body doesn't take from the classics but instead from the forgettable, slightly amusing rom-coms of the past decade and thinks that somehow, this time, they'll work. They still don't.
Kate (Eva Longoria Parker) and Henry (Paul Rudd) are about to be married but on their wedding day, during the preparations, Kate is crushed by an ice sculpture of an angel. One year later, Henry still isn't over the loss and his sister Chloe (Lindsay Sloane) decides to take him to a psychic (who's really a medium, but whatever) in an attempt to help Henry move on with his life. However the psychic, Ashley (Lake Bell), ends up falling for Henry, much to the chagrin of ghost-Kate who proceeds to torment Ashley in an attempt to "protect" Henry. Hilarity and romance ensue.
I recognized 2005's Just Like Heaven. I recognized 1999's Three to Tango. I recognized that my life is depressing because I recognized those two forgettable movies in this forgettable movie and that apparently they weren't as forgettable as I thought. It's not even that Over Her Dead Body is a bad movie because Eva Longoria is funny and Paul Rudd is, as always, the greatest. People may qualify this is as a "date movie" but I think a good date movie is one where you and your date get to talk about the movie. You two may be amused during the movie but the moment you leave, you’ll forget what you just saw (unless you're like me).
Words by
Matt Goldberg
1.18.08