Over Her Dead Body
In theaters February 1st 2008
sexual content and language
Run Time: 110 min
Matt's rating - 3 out of 5
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Review by Matt Mungle
Some films are meant for excellence and some are
just what they are. It is like music. Not every song can
be Lennon's "Imagine" or Marvin Gaye's "What's
going on". So when a movie like Over Her Dead Body
comes along you know what you are getting into. If you
purchase a movie ticket with expectations of plot depth
and stirring lines of dialogue you probably rush out
and buy Jessica Simpson's CD hoping for Grammy
inspired greatness. But you don't. You get it for what it
is. That is why I sort of like this film because it did
what it set out to do. Be romantic and at the same time
funny. I didn't get my hopes up for something on the
scale of The Holiday or Something's Gotta Give. I was
just hoping for not horrible. And though it came close
a few times, it did have some reviving moments.
The story is simple enough. Kate (Eva Longoria
Parker) dies before she can marry her fiancÈ Henry
(Paul Rudd) and decides to haunt whatever female
tries to take her place. In this case it would be the
quirky psychic Ashley (Lake Bell) who Henry's sister
Chloe (Lindsey Sloane) has hired to help Henry move
on and start dating other women. Got it? Throw in the
stereotypical gay side kick Dan (Jason Biggs) and you
have yourself the makings for romantic comedy
magic. And at times it does work. Mainly thanks to
Rudd. Henry is the stable part of this film and without
him this movie would fall apart. He has the truly good
lines and is the only one who seems able to deliver
them. Parker is ok in the role of haunter but never
takes it to any heights. Plus Ashley seems so different
from Kate that you wonder how they ever managed to
get engaged to start with. There are some back
stories that clue you in but who wants to think that
much in this type of film?
If anything you sort of feel for Kate in the fact that she
is not a bad person trying to wreck another's
happiness. She was a victim of a terrible tragedy. So
even though you want the two principle characters to
hook up you have to sympathize with the antagonist.
But even with all of this to think over is it a big screen
must see? No. Over Her Dead Body is a movie made
for HBO or DVD. With the price of movie tickets these
days it is hard to rationalize spending that sort of cash
for something that you have seen 100 times with
different faces. So the avid movie goer will bypass this
with good reason. But for a girls night or those who
love films that are light and have a few laughs it
serves it purpose. I have a hard time picturing a group
of Tri Delts flocking to see There Will be Blood. So it is
good to have these films around.
Over Her Dead Body is rated PG-13 for sexual content
and language. It does not push the envelope any
more than the others in this genre. Kate is not a scary
ghost and even the moments of psychic interaction
are campy and non offensive. There are some sexy
moments but they are needed as much as anything
else. If you get uncomfortable with mild sexual
dialogue then you probably don't like romantic
comedies anyway. It is what makes the genre. Look,
nothing I can tell you will add or detract from your
opinions of these sorts of films. I can give it a 5 or a 1
and you still either hate or love the genre. So up
against romantic comedies only, I give it a 2. It is as
good as or better than the normal J-Lo fodder but that
is about it. I am always suckered in to these films and
I didn't hate it. But I did find myself wishing Kate
Hudson or Jennifer Garner would show up and
salvage what was left.
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Matt and Cindy are members of the North Texas
Film
Critics Association (NTFCA). For additional
reviews
and interview clips visit the website.
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Mungleshow Productions
Matt Mungle
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