Posted: 02/07/2008

Over Her Dead Body

(2008)

by Hank Yuloff

“Wow, that was better than I thought it was going to be.” How often do you get to say that when you leave a movie? For me, it is not very often. But unlike writer/director Jeff Lowell’s last movie, John Tucker Must Die, for which I had high hopes, Over Her Dead Body was pleasantly amusing, funny and formulaically good enough to make for a good evening at the movies.

Okay, so that is not going to be a high enough recommendation to get you to avoid seeing all of the Oscar-nominated films you can see before the ceremony, but when you see it come on cable or your DVD service, don’t shy away from it. Actually, judging by the box office for the first weekend (under $4 million), this flick will be hitting the rental shelves rather quickly. What this proves is that using a popular television show actor does not always translate into silver screen success.

That actor, Eva Longoria Parker, stars in her fifth film (none of which has done incredible B.O.) since debuting in Desperate Housewives as Kate, a controlling, manic bride-to-be who gets killed on the morning of her wedding by an ice-sculpture angel. She neglects to listen to her guardian angel (yeah, how ironic) and ends up back on Earth as a disembodied spirit. Evidently, she is supposed to make things right so she can move on but does not know the subject of her project. I was waiting for Reese Weatherspoon or Patrick Swayze to show up as a ghost host for Longoria, but writer Lowell didn’t go that far with the similarities to Just Like Heaven or Ghost. Well, except for the psychic who channels them back to the land of the living. Lake Bell (Boston Legal, The Practice) plays Ashley the psychic/caterer, who jumps between ratatouille and readings in order to make a living.

Jumping ahead one year, Kate’s fiancé, Henry, is living in neutral and Lake is convinced by his sister, Chloe (fantastically played by Lindsay Sloane from Gross Pointe and Help Me Help You), to make the veterinarian (Paul Rudd from 40-Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up) believe she has heard from Kate and he should move on with his life. Except that wasn’t supposed to include dating him. But they hit it off, and doesn’t that just piss off Kate. The rest of the film is taken up with all the characters catching up to where we know they are going to end up, but it is a very funny script that keeps you entertained and willing to go along for the ride. And the really great-looking cast helps, too!

Hank Yuloff is a Dodgers fan and film critic in Los Angeles.

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