Monday, February 11, 2008

"OVER HER DEAD BODY"

“OVER HER DEAD BODY” (Paul Rudd, Eva Longoria Parker & Lake Bell)

You’d think this would be a time for ‘Hollywood’ to want to produce quality product, being so close to their big award night and all. Not ‘Oscar buzz’ material, but better than the poop they throw out to entice kids during the summer months... I guess they want movie goers to catch the Best Picture nominees, so to steer them in the right direction they give us crap like ‘Over Her Dead Body’.
I always dread when I see a trailer with numerous ‘red flags’ warning me to ‘stay away’, as I know my wife is probably going to turn to me & say, “That looks like it might be cute.”
The difference between the sexes; women will watch anything, no matter how nonsensical or idiotic the plot is if it means there’s going to be a big bag of buttery popcorn in her lap. And men are left wondering how they might be able to pull off the ‘Diner’ trick without spilling all of her precious kernels.
In a change of criteria, I agreed to see this because I like Paul Rudd (Normal criteria is – there has to be a nice looking actress I can gaze upon) & Paul has the one or two nearly comedic moments in this chick flick, but this one goes beyond stupid & neither lead actress is much to ‘gaze’, with the exception of Bell’s upper torso. Unfortunately enough of it isn’t on display here & when the titillating moment comes where Lake’s Ashley runs topless thru a health club – the moan you hear from the men in the crowd isn’t from seeing her clutch her soapy breasts, but from the total lack of comedic timing, dialogue & ‘Saturday Night Live-ish’ acting that’s going on.
Plot, if you’re still interested in this D- un-humorous ‘romantic comedy’, is this; Kate (Eva Longoria-Parker) is about to marry Henry (Rudd) she is presented as a bossy, uncaring b*tch; so when she is killed while being such, you are glad she’s finally erased from society. But no – we get to see her in a cloudy ‘limbo’ where she’s a bossy, uncaring b*itch toward St. Peter’s ‘angel-like’ intern who is supposed to tell Kate how to get into heaven. Too busy complaining to listen to instructions, Kate winds up back on earth as a ghost whose sole intention is to make sure her fiancé Henry lives a lonely & miserable life.
Henry for some strange reason misses Kate, so his sister arranges a séance with part-time clairvoyant Ashley (Bell) Ashley’s real job is catering & she has a rather uncomfortable (to watch) relationship with her male employee, Dan (Jason Biggs, playing a very unconvincing ‘gay co-worker’) But with the help of Henry’s sister providing ‘inside’ information, Ashley convinces a skeptic Henry that she actual can speak to the dead.
In due time, Ashley & Henry develop an interest in one another & both appear to be headed for that proverbial chick flick happy ending. But no – even though she’s a fake clairvoyant, Ashley is the only person who can see Kate as she appears to screw up the life of the man she supposedly loved. & yadda-yadda,yadda scenes of non-comedy ensues...
It’s easy to finger the blame for this film as the 10 minutes or so after the ‘limbo’ scene, when Longoria-Parker isn’t onscreen is the best part of this (Well, not ‘best’ part, let’s say ‘least annoying’ part)
And not too surprisingly, Stephen Root is the most enjoyable character as he plays the drunk that ‘accidentally’ kills Kate. So you love him immensely from that moment on.

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