Monday, February 11, 2008

Review - Over Her Dead Body

It is completely implausible to me that Paul Rudd, who has the Midas touch when it comes to choosing movie roles, would sign on to a film like this. Writer/ Director Jeff Lowell must have some really embarrassing Baby Rudd pictures somewhere and he should be incredibly thankful because Paul Rudd is the only thing even remotely watchable in this movie.
The premise of the film is rather intriguing-- a woman who dies on her wedding day tries to sabotage her fiance's new relationship-- but it is wasted on a contrived, undeniably predictable screenplay, which may have been salvageable had the characters not been flat and utterly uninteresting.
There are a few inspired moments in the film; two come to mind, both at the end of the film, but neither is a reward big enough for sitting through the first hour of this movie. The first is the revelation that Dan (Jason Biggs) is not gay but has been pretending to be ever since Ashley (Lake Bell) exclaimed to him how nice it was to have a gay friend just as he was about to kiss her. The second is the parrot, through whom Kate (Eva Longoria) discovers she can speak to her husband, despite being dead. The parrot actually ends up being one of the least annoying 'characters' in the film. Its voice is much more welcome than Longoria's, who screeches and shrieks her way through the film, delivering an all-around career killing performance. She should be thankful that she has Desperate Housewives to salvage a career pock-marked by bombs such as this one and The Sentinel. However, her horrendous outing as Kate is severely dampened by the even worst performance of Lake Bell, whose obnoxious attempts at wit might just drive an audience to suicide.
This film is flawed at even the most basic levels. In regards to his directorial debut, Lowell fails even more completely than he does with the screenplay. His visual style is shoddy and confusing. The camera rarely focuses on anything interesting. This is the type of film construction and editing that seems like it was done on an iMac in someone's basement. There are several opportunities for interesting camerawork but, unfortunately, Lowell neglects to take advantage of even one.
To recap: terrible screenplay, mind-numbing, horrifying performances, awkward direction. That all adds up to a great big flop and a waste of 95 minutes.

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